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How The Sims 4 Should Re-introduce Zodiac Signs and Why

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How The Sims 4 Should Re-introduce Zodiac Signs and Why

I can assure you as someone who is deeply into astrology that there are not just twelve types of people out in the world. Sun signs (commonly known as zodiac signs) tell very little about people, in fact, there are more that affects one’s personality and characteristics which are found in everyone’s horoscope drawings or “natal charts”. A horoscope is an astrological chart or diagram representing the positions of the Sun, Moon, planets, astrological aspects, and sensitive angles at the time of an event, such as the moment of a person’s birth. That gives a lot more information about a certain personality or a certain situation. Since we made it clear, we can get to our topic.

Zodiac signs have always been a feature of the Sims franchise until the sims 4. In the first two incarnations of the game, they were determined by the personality points that were spent on a sim. Like, if your sim was more active and grouchier, it was more likely for them to be a Scorpio. If you evenly spent the points on each category, they would turn out as a Cancer. However, with the introduction of personality traits in sims 3, zodiac signs were separated from the personality system and it became more of a cosmetic feature. A sim’s personality traits would be chosen separately from their zodiac signs yet players did still have access to those with no actual gameplay mechanics related to them. The only thing you could do with zodiac signs in the game was “Ask Horoscope” interaction as you were getting to know a new sim and that was all.

Since the launch of the sims 4, players can only choose 3 personality traits for their sims, and let’s get real here, it is a huge let down after the sims 3 in which one could earn up to 7 personality traits for their sims with the university social groups and such. Lack of personality trait slots kinda makes everyone feel that our sims lack depth. Especially when the existing personality traits aren’t diverse enough, the situation gets incredibly frustrating. And even if they were, it is a huge problem for players not to have enough trait slots to equip them. This is how I believe the majority of the player base got keen on using mods like Slice of Life, Meaningful Stories, and WickedWhims, that offer more depth and gameplay than the actual game does. But EA can fix it…

Our salvation lies beyond the stars!

Today, I am going to be offering an idea that could potentially please a lot of players. The return of horoscopes can fix this issue and I believe EA owes this to us loyal fans. But this time, horoscopes should be more than just cosmetic accessories. How?

How The Sims 4 Should Re-introduce Zodiac Signs and Why

Horoscopes and Traits

  • Horoscopes can/should add at least 1 more personality trait slot to each sim. This would get rid of one of the major complaints from the player base.
  • Each horoscope can/should introduce some new, unique, and non-skill-related traits that are exclusive to star signs. And each zodiac should receive at least 3 unique traits.
    • Because as I told you at the beginning of this article, everyone’s individual horoscopes/natal charts are unique. This means that people who have the same zodiac signs can be quite different than each other and it should be represented in-game as it also would offer the diversity we players have been craving for. It may sound like “too much work” but it isn’t when you consider those fanmade mods listed above. If people voluntarily work that hard and offer more gameplay opportunities for free, EA should have some pride and deliver what people demand and pay for!
    • If you paid attention, I specifically said “non-skill-related traits”. Why is that? Because telling people that some signs are better at some certain skills feels wrong. An Aries can be as good as a Pisces in poetry, or vice versa. The skills should be kept apart from zodiac signs to prevent social prejudice.

Horoscopes and Fears

Wants and Fears were one of the best gameplay features that the sims 2 had offered. It meant that every action you take in the game meant something and if you decided to neglect your sim’s needs and wishes, there could be some serious consequences like the loss of aspiration points and occasional breakdowns. It added a lot of depth to the gameplay and it also made players feel like their decisions were important. The Sims 3 and The Sims 4, well, especially The Sims 4, became too forgiving by removing the fears. But they could make a return with horoscopes. How?

How The Sims 4 Should Re-introduce Zodiac Signs and Why

Not to generalize or anything, but zodiac signs also have their own set of fears in their arsenal. For example, a typical Leo would fear losing the spotlight and not getting enough attention, a typical Aquarius would fear a monotone routine and ordinary living, a typical Capricorn would fear failures and lack of achievement in their lives, etc. Again, not a scientific fact or anything, but it is assumed that each person with the same zodiac signs shares some common fears and doubts. With horoscopes, EA could also re-introduce a “fears” system which could work in parallel with Aspirations/Lifetime Goals and would offer some meaningful consequences for sims’ actions and the players’ decisions.

Horoscopes and Attraction

Horoscopes could also introduce a totally RNG* based temporary attraction mechanic. There is a preconceived opinion that some zodiacs get along better with each and some don’t. I personally would prefer if it wasn’t the case in the game. Because like in real life, sims shouldn’t choose their friends or romantic interests by their zodiac signs. I believe it would be much better if sims received a random, RNG-based “Stars Align” buff/mood which means that there is an attraction/chemistry between two sims, and “Star-Crossed” debuff/mood which means the exact opposite. Since this is random and temporary, it could provide a lot of fun gameplay moments and it would add more depth to the sims themselves.

These are just some ideas that came to my mind when I brainstormed on some major player complaints and how our beloved zodiac signs could make a difference with their return. I doubt if they will ever appear in sims 4 but I want to have faith in the sims 5. Maybe, just maybe… who knows?

*RNG is a game term that is an acronym for “random number generator”. Random number generators (or, more correctly, pseudorandom number generators) are algorithms used in computing when an outcome needs to be as random as possible.


PS: I recently joined the sims community team as a weekly contributor, make sure to check out my profile and follow me on social media! I will try my best to create this kind of fun articles in varied contexts. I hope this was a fun read and I hope you like the ideas here! If you do, please support me and all of the players who have been missing such features in the sims 4 so bad!

About the author

SovereignSimmer

♦Communications Scholar
♦Hobbyist Artist
♦Virtuoso+ Spellcaster
♥Origin ID: sovereignsimmer

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yeehaw
yeehaw
5 years ago

I love these types of posts. This is so well made and I enjoyed reading it. Thank you for a new sims article to read! I really hope they add zodiac signs in Sims 4 or maybe even Sims 5, but I would be happy with Sims 3 zodiac signs depth in future games or updates on current ones.

Al Roke
Al Roke
5 years ago

This sincerely sounds like one of the worst ideas I have heard on this site. For better or worse the Sims franchise influences a lot how young people end up seeing the world. The Barnum effect is already bad enough by itself and hurts enough people by itself that we don’t need big franchises pushing anything except “horoscopes can be fun if you’re into them, but they are bullshit labels just for fun”. Aliens, mermaids and magic are ‘out there’ enough that there isn’t a big risk that people will end up believing it’s a real world thing. Horoscopes on the other hand are still ‘border line’ enough that any such triggered belief will be actively abused and harm players (whether through active abuse like the sale of charts and/or readings or harm caused by the Barnum effect and people behaving against their best interests). One of the amazing things about the Sims is that they try to take some responsibility in this regard, from their attempts to be lgtb inclusive to their attempts to be culturally sensitive to some extent. Strengthening the belief that the moment you patents had sex influences who you are and what will happen to you is a step in the opposite direction.

Honestly, this site actively propagating such pseudoscience in such a way is shocking. Yes, something can be just a game mechanic, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have real world consequences. And the same goes for people reading this article.

Chris
Chris
5 years ago
Reply to  Al Roke

There is litterly nothing wrong with horoscopes -_-

Charly
Charly
5 years ago
Reply to  Al Roke

I started playing the Sims when I was 13 and have been playing for 10 years. But I’ve never thought anything in the Sims was real. 13 is an impressionable age to start doing things but from age 13-21 I was pretty convinced that Autumn Salads were a thing made up for the game and not based on a real meal. If remained skeptical of such an innocent part of the game it’s not hard to imagine other kids can remain skeptical of horoscopes

Addy
Addy
5 years ago
Reply to  Al Roke

So did you not play any sims up til 4 just to avoid propagating zodiacs?

Ash
Ash
5 years ago
Reply to  Al Roke

And what’s so wrong with young people believing in astrology?

Carina
Carina
5 years ago
Reply to  Al Roke

@Al Roke: I’m glad someone brought this problem up. It seems not everyone here is worried about psychological impacts on vulnarable people…
Anyway, I personally wouldn’t want astrology in the game, rather more traits and getting fears back. We don’t need astrology for that.

-_-
-_-
5 years ago
Reply to  Al Roke

bro chill

Pleb
Pleb
5 years ago
Reply to  Al Roke

Jeez chill out. Not that big of a deal. They aren’t “propagating pseudoscience” they are just making a suggestion and adding input on the site. It’s just a way to add a little more personality to your characters (and more trait slots at that). Which is one of the main complaints from simmers, that there should be more trait slots. I realize that you don’t believe in astrology and perhaps you even believe that it has a bad effect on people and their actions. I completely understand that. But, you also have to take into consideration that some people do believe in it and it helps them define the blurry lines within their life. Nonetheless, I don’t think that many young people are learning their life skills from this game. As someone who played the game since it first came out in 2014 (and has been keeping up with it since) I have of course learned from this game, but not enough to alter the entirety of how I see the world. If it did I would be worshiping Gnomes and spend my hours typing in cheat commands and calling intercourse ‘woohoo’. No child who plays this game is going to be effected by in game astrological signs to that extent.
And yes of course The Sims team tries to be as inclusive as they can towards the lgbtq+ community because it is the right thing to do. Astrological signs are a fun and stupid way to categorize your personality, It is not a sexual orientation. Comparing racial and sexual sensitivity to your sun sign is the most ridiculous thing in the history of BS. I understand where you are coming from, but I think that you have a vast misunderstanding of the very nature of The Sims and the type of game that it is. The next accusatory paragraph you should write should be about how ghosts aren’t scientific fact and promote wrongful convictions about the afterlife, therefore The Sims team should be ashamed of their morally corrupt ideas and take them out of the game. Making sure to protect the youth of this generation from believing that Ghosts exist, because they’ll pick up so much incorrect information from this simulation game about Akira Kibo playing guitar outside your house and god damn is it annoying.

Ramboo
Ramboo
5 years ago
Reply to  Al Roke

Bruh it’s a video game where u can literally get impregnated by aliens, become a witch, and talk to ghosts…chill out, relaxation, stop screaming djfbkdbckd

Simmer
Simmer
5 years ago

I do wish they’d bring back things like horoscopes and favourite foods and colours to give our Sims more individuality. Some of the implementations suggested here are quite good.

However, this article needs some serious proof reading. Lots of editorial errors and grammatical mistakes, and quite simply bad writing – it’s more a train of thought rather than a cohesive, professional article.

Mette Jensen
Mette Jensen
5 years ago

Really nice idea. I think it could be fun with horoscopes and exiting to get fears and hopes back. But what about memories? I really miss memories from the sims 2.

Katie
Katie
5 years ago

If they introduce horoscopes again here’s a good idea! How about you make horoscopes readable on the computer or newspaper that tell fortunes? whether the fortune was good or bad determines a random event that happens in your Sims day. If you got a good fortune a positive event will be triggered that day, if you have a bad fortune a negative event will be triggered. I just think it would be fun and gameplay!

27plumbobs
27plumbobs
5 years ago

i feel like sims 4 is turning into sims 3, but im liking it. i think if we had 4 personality slots and 1 of them was accompanied by a zodiac sign, that would be cool.

Maxime
Maxime
5 years ago

I did not expect those harsh critics, I thought this article was so interesting, even if I don’t believe in astrology. I wish my Sims could find love this way so i don’t have to choose who they are going to stay with for the rest of their life. But implementing a fear system seems kind of risky in term of changes and modifications. Keep the good work. x

Carmen
Carmen
5 years ago

I believe in the horoscopes (in a certain form, obviusly) and I think is a wonderfull idea. I separed the reality with the sims (who don’t?) and it will be very fun if they decided to believe in this idea ❤

Kyattchan
Kyattchan
5 years ago

I really love all these ideas, really want zodiac signs on S4!

Brittney
Brittney
5 years ago

Loving that the Sims Community is adding more opinion pieces! Reporting on what’s happening is nice but there tends to be a lot of time when nothing interesting is happening. Also as a Sims lover since Sims 2, I know that I’m not enjoying the game as much as I once was. So, I enjoy reading articles like this that explain what is missing that’s making it not as fun as The Sims 2 or 3 was for me! Thank you!

Al Roke
Al Roke
4 years ago

This sincerely sounds like one of the worst ideas I have heard on this site. For better or worse the Sims franchise influences a lot how young people end up seeing the world. The Barnum effect is already bad enough by itself and hurts enough people by itself that we don’t need big franchises pushing anything except “horoscopes can be fun if you’re into them, but they are bullshit labels just for fun”. Aliens, mermaids and magic are ‘out there’ enough that there isn’t a big risk that people will end up believing it’s a real world thing. Horoscopes on the other hand are still ‘border line’ enough that any such triggered belief will be actively abused and harm players (whether through active abuse like the sale of charts and/or readings or harm caused by the Barnum effect and people behaving against their best interests). One of the amazing things about the Sims is that they try to take some responsibility in this regard, from their attempts to be lgtb inclusive to their attempts to be culturally sensitive to some extent. Strengthening the belief that the moment you patents had sex influences who you are and what will happen to you is a step in the opposite direction.

Honestly, this site actively propagating such pseudoscience in such a way is shocking. Yes, something can be just a game mechanic, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have real world consequences. And the same goes for people reading this article.

Chris
Chris
4 years ago
Reply to  Al Roke

There is litterly nothing wrong with horoscopes -_-

Ramboo
Ramboo
4 years ago
Reply to  Al Roke

Bruh it’s a video game where u can literally get impregnated by aliens, become a witch, and talk to ghosts…chill out, relaxation, stop screaming djfbkdbckd

Carina
Carina
4 years ago
Reply to  Al Roke

@Al Roke: I’m glad someone brought this problem up. It seems not everyone here is worried about psychological impacts on vulnarable people…
Anyway, I personally wouldn’t want astrology in the game, rather more traits and getting fears back. We don’t need astrology for that.

Ash
Ash
4 years ago
Reply to  Al Roke

And what’s so wrong with young people believing in astrology?

-_-
-_-
4 years ago
Reply to  Al Roke

bro chill

Pleb
Pleb
4 years ago
Reply to  Al Roke

Jeez chill out. Not that big of a deal. They aren’t “propagating pseudoscience” they are just making a suggestion and adding input on the site. It’s just a way to add a little more personality to your characters (and more trait slots at that). Which is one of the main complaints from simmers, that there should be more trait slots. I realize that you don’t believe in astrology and perhaps you even believe that it has a bad effect on people and their actions. I completely understand that. But, you also have to take into consideration that some people do believe in it and it helps them define the blurry lines within their life. Nonetheless, I don’t think that many young people are learning their life skills from this game. As someone who played the game since it first came out in 2014 (and has been keeping up with it since) I have of course learned from this game, but not enough to alter the entirety of how I see the world. If it did I would be worshiping Gnomes and spend my hours typing in cheat commands and calling intercourse ‘woohoo’. No child who plays this game is going to be effected by in game astrological signs to that extent.
And yes of course The Sims team tries to be as inclusive as they can towards the lgbtq+ community because it is the right thing to do. Astrological signs are a fun and stupid way to categorize your personality, It is not a sexual orientation. Comparing racial and sexual sensitivity to your sun sign is the most ridiculous thing in the history of BS. I understand where you are coming from, but I think that you have a vast misunderstanding of the very nature of The Sims and the type of game that it is. The next accusatory paragraph you should write should be about how ghosts aren’t scientific fact and promote wrongful convictions about the afterlife, therefore The Sims team should be ashamed of their morally corrupt ideas and take them out of the game. Making sure to protect the youth of this generation from believing that Ghosts exist, because they’ll pick up so much incorrect information from this simulation game about Akira Kibo playing guitar outside your house and god damn is it annoying.

Charly
Charly
4 years ago
Reply to  Al Roke

I started playing the Sims when I was 13 and have been playing for 10 years. But I’ve never thought anything in the Sims was real. 13 is an impressionable age to start doing things but from age 13-21 I was pretty convinced that Autumn Salads were a thing made up for the game and not based on a real meal. If remained skeptical of such an innocent part of the game it’s not hard to imagine other kids can remain skeptical of horoscopes

Addy
Addy
4 years ago
Reply to  Al Roke

So did you not play any sims up til 4 just to avoid propagating zodiacs?

Mette Jensen
Mette Jensen
4 years ago

Really nice idea. I think it could be fun with horoscopes and exiting to get fears and hopes back. But what about memories? I really miss memories from the sims 2.

yeehaw
yeehaw
4 years ago

I love these types of posts. This is so well made and I enjoyed reading it. Thank you for a new sims article to read! I really hope they add zodiac signs in Sims 4 or maybe even Sims 5, but I would be happy with Sims 3 zodiac signs depth in future games or updates on current ones.

27plumbobs
27plumbobs
4 years ago

i feel like sims 4 is turning into sims 3, but im liking it. i think if we had 4 personality slots and 1 of them was accompanied by a zodiac sign, that would be cool.

Brittney
Brittney
4 years ago

Loving that the Sims Community is adding more opinion pieces! Reporting on what’s happening is nice but there tends to be a lot of time when nothing interesting is happening. Also as a Sims lover since Sims 2, I know that I’m not enjoying the game as much as I once was. So, I enjoy reading articles like this that explain what is missing that’s making it not as fun as The Sims 2 or 3 was for me! Thank you!

SovereignSimmer
SovereignSimmer
4 years ago
Reply to  Brittney

I feel you there. And this comment made my day for real. Thank you so much for your kindness 🙂

Kyattchan
Kyattchan
4 years ago

I really love all these ideas, really want zodiac signs on S4!

Carmen
Carmen
4 years ago

I believe in the horoscopes (in a certain form, obviusly) and I think is a wonderfull idea. I separed the reality with the sims (who don’t?) and it will be very fun if they decided to believe in this idea ❤

Maxime
Maxime
4 years ago

I did not expect those harsh critics, I thought this article was so interesting, even if I don’t believe in astrology. I wish my Sims could find love this way so i don’t have to choose who they are going to stay with for the rest of their life. But implementing a fear system seems kind of risky in term of changes and modifications. Keep the good work. x

Simmer
Simmer
5 years ago

I do wish they’d bring back things like horoscopes and favourite foods and colours to give our Sims more individuality. Some of the implementations suggested here are quite good.

However, this article needs some serious proof reading. Lots of editorial errors and grammatical mistakes, and quite simply bad writing – it’s more a train of thought rather than a cohesive, professional article.

SovereignSimmer
SovereignSimmer
4 years ago
Reply to  Simmer

Thanks for the constructive criticism! Rest assured that I will be taking it into account in future articles and I’ll make sure to ask for assistance from other team members regarding the grammar issues.

Katie
Katie
4 years ago

If they introduce horoscopes again here’s a good idea! How about you make horoscopes readable on the computer or newspaper that tell fortunes? whether the fortune was good or bad determines a random event that happens in your Sims day. If you got a good fortune a positive event will be triggered that day, if you have a bad fortune a negative event will be triggered. I just think it would be fun and gameplay!