Fear of Unfulfilled Dreams - Waffle Explains It All (Patreon)

Today's "Sims Players are mad about a feature because they refuse to engage with it" comes to you courtesy of this post:

 Wherein the OP fully understands how a mechanic works, but refuses to engage with it- and then gets upset that they are punished by the game for not engaging with mechanics that they fully understand.

Somehow, it "makes 0 sense" and "is completely and utterly non-functional", but also is the bane of their existence because they don't do the stuff they need to do to avoid getting the fear. Weird.

Anyway:

The bulk of the Fear of Unfulfilled Dreams comes from- get this- not fulfilling a Sim's dreams, or wants.

Nearly every want in the game, if not all of them (I can't hand-check this, so I'm not going to definitively say they all do it) will affect your Sim's hidden fulfillment statistic. Every time you achieve a Want, your Sim's hidden unfulfillment level is reduced to MINIMUM.

A handful of non-want interactions also help with fulfillment: Doing workout videos on the TV, preparing Butternut Squash, Caesar Salad, Clam Chowder, Eggs Benedict, Fruit Salad, Italian Meatballs, Minestrone, and Tiramisu, leveling any skill to level 5, shopping at food stalls, taking care of hamsters, using the rock climbing machine, doing slip and slide tricks, and helping toddlers climb on the toddler playset. (Edit: These interactions claim to provide this benefit, but I'm unclear on if the way they're formatted actually makes it happen. I'm looking into this now, as I attempt to make a mod that provides this benefit for a few other things.)

When your Sim is at risk of the fear of Unfulfilled Dreams, these actions remove it. Full stop. They get rid of it. YOU ONLY HAVE TO DO ONE. A SINGLE TIME.

It takes 72 straight hours of not doing any of these actions, or completing wants, to develop this fear. THIS FEAR WILL NOT APPEAR ON ANY SIMS WHO DO EVEN A SINGLE! SOLITARY! WANT! Once every 72 hours.

There is only a 10% chance of developing it when this happens, it isn't guaranteed. The chance is made worse for sims who are Tense or Sad, or who recently drew a reversed Strength tarot card, when it triggers. The chance is made better for Sims who are under the effect of a Rainborz gem. The chance is made 0 for sims who are Lazy, Professional Slackers, recently recovered from a fear, or have recently done something called the "Basked in Bravery" interaction from a horse. And that's all IF they haven't done any wants in 72 straight hours.

Once your sim HAS the fear, you resolve it by simply discussing your fears with another Sim while they have the Whim to do so. If you don't have this want- you need to complete a want! Then it'll refresh into this one. This may be a guaranteed way to get it available, I am not sure.

TL;DR? Sims have a hidden Fulfillment motive. It reaches 0 after 72 straight hours of not doing any Wants or a handful of odd collections of other interactions. When they do those things the motive fills back up and they no longer risk getting the fear. Resolving the fear is as simple as discussing it with other Sims (Successfully). Note that "Successfully" qualifier. Interactions can fail. Please tell me you knew that. If you fail the interaction, you didn't successfully discuss/conquer your fears. So don't do it with a Sim you don't like, don't get along with, etc.

Not only does it work, but it's also very easy to deal with.

NOTE TO CONTENT CREATORS: I write these posts on my own time, using my own research into mechanics, using my own ability to understand tuning and navigate through it to find what it does, where, and how. If you use this information for any purposes, such as making videos about game mechanics, please, please, please, credit me and link to these posts as the source. I know for a fact content already exists where I am the source and not credited.

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