History YMMV / TheSims

* CrossesTheLineTwice: Many of the utterly sadistic things players can do with the VideoGameCrueltyPotential downright crosses the line so many times they utterly obliterate any semblance of a line.

** People are able to do this with mods, allowing them to do things such as make sims attack each other, kill each other, or literally grill babies.

** The Sims 1 (as a very basic form of human life simulator) is based upon Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs; Sims are happy as long as they are fed, rested, kept amused etc. The Sims 2 retains that but with the added depth (and human realism) of Schopenhauer's theory of the "Will" – interchangeable here with the added “Wants” system in the game. Indeed, the “Wants” aspect is true to Schopenhauer’s view (almost scarily so) in that [=TS2=] Sims are constantly hungering for more and more (success, popularity, material possessions, sex and so-on). In addition, even when they get what they want their fulfillment is relatively short-lived (the “Aspiration Meter” level depletes) or, conversely, boredom ensues – though probably more for the player than for them. The only [unrealistic] digression from all this is the introduction of the “lifelong aspiration” in a later [=TS2=] expansion which, if accomplished, would grant the sim platinum aspiration level for the rest of their life.

** When the Tragic Clown appears in The Sims 1, be prepared to make a depressed Sim happy, while also dealing with a clown who seems to go out of his way to make life miserable.
* TheyChangedItNowItSucks:
** People who are really glued to a certain ''Sims'' game will probably criticize the sequel ''hard''. ''Sims 2'' fans hated ''The Sims 3'' because the Sim models got more realistic (which made the game lose its charm for some), and that you have much less control over their lives than in ''2'' (where time progresses for all households instead of only the active household, at the expense of playing other households without losing control of your current household). Another object of hatred is the Story Progression feature, which more often than not causes unpredictable outcomes that seem to be determined in random instead of by individual Sims' traits.
** The major complaint about ''Sims 4'' as there were quite a few drastic changes made, from the bad ones such as removal of many features already introduced in base game of ''2'' and ''3'' (such as toddlers, swimming pools, cars, customizable neighborhood) to the radically different user interfaces, and also some good ones (the overhauled "needs" and "wants" system, the new emotion system, new smartphone interaction features, and also in game videogames being more than just a fun filling machine, although in ''Sims 3'' videogames can be used to improve relationship with distant Sims through the online feature). Although these complaints have lessened over time due to most of the aforementioned features being restored via free patches, detractors still persist.

** The Sims 4 strikes a balance between realism and Animesque - the end product looks quite Pixar-ish. Some of the faces your Sims can pull, especially when afflicted by particularly strong emotions, however, can be rather disturbing.

** In terms of fashion, meanwhile, the clothing options available in the first game still reflected TheNineties, with a particular focus on clothes that would look and feel right at home in a DomCom from that decade. The second and third games, meanwhile, featured popular fashion items from the TurnOfTheMillennium, particularly with the prevalence of low-rise hip-hugging pants for female Sims designed to [[BareYourMidriff bare the midriff]], which were trendy among young women in that decade but experienced a major backlash in the next. Finally, the clothing in the fourth game reflects contemporary fashions in TheNewTens, particularly the {{hipster}} and [[WorkoutFanservice athleisure]] trends.

This YMMV page is for the series as a whole.
* For the first game, [[YMMV/TheSims1 click here]].
* For the second game, [[YMMV/TheSims2 click here]].
* For the third game, [[YMMV/TheSims3 click here]].
* For the fourth game, [[YMMV/TheSims4 click here]].

** The game in general is popular for generating these (complete with original characters to boot). ''[[Wiki/TheOtherWiki The Sims Wiki]]'' has a dedicated page for fanon characters titled "Fanon:<Insert Sim Name>".

* FunnyAneurysmMoment: The romance-despising Agnes Crumplebottom can be this for some players, given the revelation in ''The Sims 3'' (which takes place before ''The Sims'') that she was once married, but [[TheLostLenore her husband tragically drowned]], apparently not long after they married, thus [[FreudianExcuse hinting that this is the reason for her aversion of PDA]].
* GeniusBonus: Raise your hands if you know that ''mellifera'' is the second part of the ''Latin'' name for a family of honey bees. [[note]]Yep, the spell is technically a combination of pretentious Latin and ''real'' Latin. Though mellifera actually means ''honey-bearing''. You'd think the spell would result in the sim on the receiving end getting slimed by honey instead.[[/note]]

* UncannyValley:

*** In a similar vein, there's the awful expression that possessed Sims retain - a grin that's way too wide plastered over their face and eyes that seem like they're about to pop out of their sockets at any moment, with minor discoloration. It doesn't help that, unlike the usual emotion postures where Sims gaze in front of them, controlling a possessed Sim means having to deal with the fact that they ''stare straight at you at all times'' (the other is "Mortified" though thankfully staring down).

*** In a similar vein, there's the awful expression that possessed Sims retain - a grin that's way too wide plastered over their face and eyes that seem like they're about to pop out of their sockets at any moment, with minor discoloration. It doesn't help that, unlike the usual emotion postures where Sims gaze in front of them, controlling a possessed Sim means having to deal with the fact that they ''stare straight at you at all times.''

** The game in general is popular for generating these (complete with original characters to boot). The Sims Wiki has a dedicated page for fanon characters titled "Fanon:<Insert Sim Name>".

** Is ''The Sims 3'' awesome, or does it suck forever because it anything slower than a top-of-the-line gaming rig will stutter trying to run it? Though after the expansion packs were completed and computer technology caught up with the game, ''The Sims 2'' players accept that ''The Sims 3'' is a great game on its own, poor optimizations aside.

* SuspiciouslySimilarSong: Other games feature songs in Simlish, which usually sound more like English than normal Simlish. ''The Sims 4: City Living'' included Simlish versions of anime openings, including ''Manga/MariaTheVirginWitch'' and ''Anime/GirlsBeyondTheWasteland''.

* {{Fanon}}: Frances Worthington is played as gay in many stories, and the townie Meadow Thayer is said to be "[[ReallyGetsAround the neighborhood bicycle]]". Also, in fanfics usually there is some sort of connection between Strangetown and Pleasantview (because Bella Goth can be found as a townie in Strangetown), and usually Lilith Pleasant is seen as the better twin, while Angela is seen as a Mary Sue.

* SuspiciouslySimilarSong: Other games feature songs in Simlish, which usually sound more like English than normal Simlish. ''The Sims 4: City Living'' included Simlish versions of anime openings, including ''Manga/MariaTheVirginWitch'' and ''Girls Beyond The Wasteland''.

** The fantasy/sci-fi elements of the Sims franchise. Some fans prefer doing playing with a more realistic and grounded version of the Sims while others love to play as some of their supernatural creatures from fiction.

* SugarWiki/FunnyMoments:
** The cutscene for [[spoiler:a MisterSeahorse birth]]. Doubly funny if you compare it with the regular ones.
** One of the jobs for the firefighters in ''The Sims 3: Ambitions'', should you have ''Late Night'' installed too, is to save the movie set [[spoiler: [[EverythingsBetterWithLlamas from a herd of angry llamas]].]]
* FridgeHorror: How do male Sims give birth to their alien offspring? The only nearby orifice is... [[{{Squick}} NO.]]

* GameBreaker:
** Many, especially in ''GameBreaker/TheSims3'' with the deep adjustment to the game world and the completely game-breaking lifetime awards such as reduction of needs decay, Steel Bladder (no more toilet trips), and Inheritance (large sum of money given to household no strings attached, basically "motherlode" as in-game reward, among many others.
** This trope may be the reason why people eventually started coming up with various Challenges for the game. Most of these challenges prohibit the use of some or all of Game Breakers, thus making the game, well, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin more challenging]].

* {{Altitis}}: With its detailed character and house design and its aimless open-endedness, all four of the games can invite this. How many times have you spent hours figuring out whether your character would wear his hair differently with a tuxedo than with jeans and which trash can he'd have in his kitchen, only to become irredeemably bored with him as soon as he's got a job and some friends and keeps asking for a nicer TV or a trip to the bookstore?

** Which is the best EP?

* CreepyAwesome: It's very possible to build a Sim like this, only now with superior optimization.

* {{Fanon}}:
** Frances Worthington is played as gay in many stories, and the townie Meadow Thayer is said to be "[[ReallyGetsAround the neighborhood bicycle]]". Also, in fanfics usually there is some sort of connection between Strangetown and Pleasantview (because Bella Goth can be found as a townie in Strangetown), and usually Lilith Pleasant is seen as the better twin, while Angela is seen as a Mary Sue.
** [[http://sims.wikia.com/wiki/Sinjin_Balani Sinjin Balani]] being the son/grandson of [[http://sims.wikia.com/wiki/Bunny_Curious Bunny Curious]].

* FranchiseOriginalSin: Expansions and nickel-and-diming have always been a running joke among the fans. In fact, the very first expansion for the first game, ''Livin' Large'', would be seen as a "stuff pack" today, though even this was somewhat offset by it being bundled with the original game after a point. It was only when later games started recycling content from the earlier games' expansions for their own, and that content was seen as getting smaller with each new release, that fans started to wonder why, at some point, this stuff wasn't included with the base games.
** For others, it was the addition of fantastical and supernatural elements, and various bizarre life states. The games themselves were fairly grounded in reality with a few exceptions that were otherwise easy to ignore (such as the ''Livin Large'' items) or just [[RuleOfFunny intended to be funny]]. As the series went on, they became harder to ignore, prompting every game to become DenserAndWackier as it goes on.

%%* UnfortunateImplications: The developers' decision to start adding same-sex couples into the pre-made character pool towards the end of ''The Sims 3'' era was largely well-received. However, it's hard to miss the fact that to date [[AllLesbiansWantKids every lesbian couple in the series have been parents]], while none of the gay couples have had kids (with the exception of two men who were heavily coded gay but were [[HideYourGays actually just best friends]] in-game).

** Also Bella Goth, to an extent.

* CatharisFactor: Do you dislike any fictional character? Then, go ahead, and make a sim of them just so that you can kill that sim off.

*** As of 2021, ''The Sims 4'' has firmly sunk into Dork Age for many of the older era Simmers, compounded by a wave of even more game-breaking bugs, the arrival of the much-derided game kits (which, among other things, offers the ''ability to vacuum for $5''), and a lackluster game pack. It's gotten bad enough to the point where prominent reviewers and Sims players such as [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kC2fda9k0yc Carl's Sims Guide]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqaprLT7zic&list=PLbBZM9aUMsjH0ugWCCkcFxNPtvqRoi9la&index=24&t=210s LGRPlays]] have become extremely vocal about their disdain for the franchise's direction, to the point that [=LGRPlays=] has sworn off reviewing and playing Sims 4 content entirely.

** ''Sims 1'': Bonehilda and the dragons from ''Makin' Magic'' are extremely popular. The former was so popular, in fact, that a campaign was launched by fans to get her into ''Sims 4'' -- culminating in her return with the ''Paranormal Stuff'' pack.
** ''Sims 2'': Cowplants, which have since become a series staple. Many townies are also pretty iconic, such as Meadow Thayer, Mrs. Crumplebottom and Goopy [=GilsCarbo=].

* ScapegoatCreator: The disproportionate scorn heaped upon Rod Humble, at one point executive producer of the Sims division, because of his past experience working with SOE and some offhand comment that he "didn't get ''The Sims'' at first". Some feared he was going to "turn ''The Sims'' into ''VideoGame/EverQuest''." It didn't help that he [[AuthorAvatar appeared as a Sim]] in one expansion as essentially a door-to-door hype salesman.

* GirlShowGhetto: Averted. The series was never specifically aimed at girls, but it was created as a "virtual dollhouse" and is one of the most popular franchises out there with female gamers. ''The Sims'' is one of the most profitable PC video game franchises out there and is well respected amongst gamers in general.

* PeripheryDemographic: In-universe, adults can enjoy children's TV, movies, and books.

* SuspiciouslySimilarSong: Averted in ''The Sims 2: Open For Business'', where a new radio station is added entitled "New Wave", which features acts such as Depeche Mode and Howard Jones - who actually rerecorded their '80s hits in Simlish for the game. Other games also feature songs in Simlish, which usually sound more like English than normal Simlish. ''The Sims 4: City Living'' included Simlish versions of anime openings, including ''Manga/MariaTheVirginWitch'' and ''Girls Beyond The Wasteland''.

** The general consensus among older fans of the franchise who started with the first two games is that the series began slipping into this during the tail-end of ''The Sims 3'' with buggy and unappealing releases such as ''Showtime'', ''Island Paradise'' and ''Into the Future'', and fully nosedived into it when it became clear that ''The Sims 4'' was going to divide and separately sell (or otherwise water down) previous fully-fledged expansion themes and features (such as vacations, nightlife, or most prominently, occult states) into separate DLC packs. In addition to that, ''The Sims 4'' is often derided for having shallow gameplay beyond creating Sims and houses, buggy Sims with little to no personality and terrible AI, LighterAndSofter marketing that is clearly aimed more towards young teenagers and pre-pubescent girls, and SequelDifficultyDrop that takes away from the unpredictable life simulator aspects that the previous games had.
** Among those who primarily joined during ''The Sims 4'' era, Eco Lifestyle was seen as the point where The Sims team began to flounder in their execution, delivering an expansion that was seen as having an interesting concept with a rather boring and unsatisfying gameplay loop, in addition to several game-breaking bugs that left users crashing ''thirty minutes into their game''. However, what sank ''The Sims 4'' firmly into the Dork Age for most of these fans (and indeed, most of the Simsdom in general) was the reveal and release of the near-universally derided ''Journey to Baatu'', a Star Wars-themed game pack that had blatant Disney shilling painted all over it's cover. While Snowy Escape, released later in the year, managed to win back some small amount of goodwill from the fanbase, the shoddy, bug-ridden quality of recent releases has prompted a wave of retroactive introspection as to the hollow nature of the core ''Sims 4'' experience.

** Sims 1: Bonehilda and the dragons from ''Makin' Magic'' are extremely popular. The former was so popular, in fact, that a campaign was launched by fans to get her into ''Sims 4.''
** Sims 2: Cowplants, which have since become a series staple. Many townies are also pretty iconic, such as Meadow Thayer, Mrs. Crumplebottom and Goopy GilsCarbo.

* FranchiseOriginalSin: Expansions and nickel-and-diming have always been a running joke among the fans. In fact, the very first expansion for the first game, ''Livin' Large'', would be seen as a "stuff pack" today, though even this was somewhat offset by it being bundled with the original game after a point. It was only when later games started recycling content from the earlier games' expansions for their own that fans started to wonder why, at some point, this stuff wasn't included with the base games.

* FranchiseOriginalSin: Expansion packs and "Stuff packs", which are seen as getting smaller and smaller with every release. When every new game releases, it's often [[VindicatedByHistory panned for not having as much content as the previous game]], even though the previous games had between seven to eleven expansion packs (over the course of about four years prior to ''VideoGame/TheSims4''.)

** Many, especially in [[GameBreaker/TheSims3 The Sims 3]] with the deep adjustment to the game world and the completely game-breaking lifetime awards such as reduction of needs decay, Steel Bladder (no more toilet trips), and Inheritance (large sum of money given to household no strings attached, basically "motherlode" as in-game reward, among many others.

* GirlShowGhetto: Averted. The series was never specifically aimed at girls but it was created as a "virtual dollhouse" and is one of the most popular franchises out there with female gamers. ''The Sims'' is one of the most profitable PC video game franchises out there and is well respected amongst gamers in general.

* ScapegoatCreator: The disproportionate scorn heaped upon Rod Humble, at one point executive producer of the Sims division, because of his past experience working with SOE and some offhand comment that he "didn't get ''The Sims'' at first". Some feared he was going to "turn ''The Sims'' into VideoGame/EverQuest." It didn't help that he [[AuthorAvatar appeared as a Sim]] in one expansion as essentially a door-to-door hype salesman.

* {{Squick}}: For a period of time, a glitch in Sims 4 made it possible for family members to have romantic relationships with each other and even have whims to do so. This included children, meaning a parent could have the desire to "woohoo" with their child or vice versa. Thankfully, this was fixed rather quickly.

* SuspiciouslySimilarSong: Averted in ''The Sims 2: Open For Business'', where a new radio station is added entitled "New Wave", which features acts such as Depeche Mode and Howard Jones - who actually rerecorded their 80s hits in Simlish for the game. Other games also feature songs in Simlish, which usually sound more like English than normal Simlish. The Sims 4: City Living included Simlish versions of anime openings, including ''Manga/MariaTheVirginWitch'' and ''Girls Beyond The Wasteland''.
* SequelDifficultyDrop: Over time, The Sims games have become easier and easier, with social interactions being much easier, and the moods dropping slower. Coupled with this, the AI has actually become [[ArtificialBrilliance a lot better at taking care of themselves]], meaning players can focus on developing one or two sims' skills at once and not have to constantly babysit as many sims who need to [[PottyEmergency use the bathroom]], eat, sleep, or go to work and are too stupid to automatically do so.
* TearJerker:
** Heck, any time a Sim dies, especially if you're one to get attached to them.
** Sims will sometimes get the "My Love!" moodlet from seeing the ghost of their dead lover. It's both a SugarWiki/{{Heartwarming Moment|s}} and a TearJerker.
** A Fridge Tear Jerker: Juliette Capp is a Family Sim. Romeo Monty is a [[CasanovaWannabe Romance Sim]]. This Tear Jerker applies to ''any'' relationship between a Romance Sim and a Sim of any other aspiration, since the former won't be happy unless they're cheating on their hapless partner, but this particular example is the most heartwrenching. Thought you could give ''Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet'' a happy ending? [[YankTheDogsChain Think again]], their incompatible aspirations will pull the rug out from under that plan. There's some weird consolation in the fact that the expansion packs accidentally gave Juliette a Romance-themed lifetime wish, so... [[BittersweetEnding at least that means they'll]] ''[[BittersweetEnding both]]'' [[BittersweetEnding end up sleeping around...?]] Technology comes to the rescue though in form of Renuyu Senso-Orb...
** If you read the memories of the Curious family, you'll discover that their mother, Kitty, died close to Vidcund becoming an adult.
** Lilith Pleasant and Ripp Grunt's backstories can hit home rather hard for people who've experienced ParentalNeglect and [[ParentalFavoritism favoritism]]. No wonder they're considered [[EnsembleDarkhorse Ensemble Darkhorses]] by the fans.
** Parents divorcing and their child crying.
** If you have Cats And Dogs for [=TS4=], you may catch sight of ghost pets playing with living Sims, and vice-versa. There have even been instances of ghost Sims and ghost pets essentially adopting each other autonomously.

** People who are really glued to a certain ''Sims'' game will probably criticize the sequel ''hard''. Most commonly is ''Sims 2'' fans hating on ''Sims 3'' because the Sim models got more realistic (which made the game lose it's charm), and that you have much less control over their lives than in ''2'' (where time progresses for all households instead of only the active household, at the expense of playing other households without losing control of your current household. Another object of hatred is the Story Progression feature, which more often than not causes unpredictable outcomes that seem to be determined in random instead of by individual Sims' traits).

* FranchiseOriginalSin: Expansions and nickel-and-diming have always been a running joke among the fans. In fact, the very first expansion for the first game, ''Livin' Large'', would be seen as a "stuff pack" today. It was only when later games started recycling content from the earlier games' expansions for their own that fans started to wonder why, at some point, this stuff wasn't included with the base games.