I like ghosts

[phyllis_p]

I wasn't sure at first what to think of these new-fangled ghosts, but I've decided I like them.  At the Goth house, there's one clean one who will go around and pick up after parties.  And Cornelia's dad, Simon Crumplebottom, is family oriented and will pick up the babies at night when their social is low and will play with the toddlers.  Once he even took a tired toddler all the way upstairs to put him in the crib!  Also, now that Bella is dead it's really cool that Cassandra can still talk to her, announce her current pregnancy and get hugs from mom.  It's such a nice extended family feeling!  Of course, I'm just F-ly like that.

[originalhalf]

I'm sort of enjoying them too.  The ghost babbies/chilluns are annoying me with the whole ghost sounds instead of regular voices.  I also find myself yelling at the ghostie teen who freaks out at her ghostie little brother.  Really?  Have you looked in a mirror lately?

[Lorelei]

I'm not sure I want them in my playables' homes, but I rather enjoy watching their shenanigans in the graveyard.

Though, if a playable can carry home a blue drowned ghost grave marker and pop it next to the family lot pond, that might be lulzy.

[jolrei]

In my Riverview game, Fiona Perdition (the sister my sim never had) lives in "Indian burial ground" house with several ghosts (3, I think).  She got one look at one of them and sat down outside at the picnic table looking stunned.  I mean, it's a lot to take in, right?  Just out of CAS, sent out on your own, new house, no job, and now 3 bloody ghosts (blue, pink, and I don't remember).  I have not played that hood since.  Perhaps I should, if ghosts are going to actually be interesting.  I could at least let her stop looking quite so stunned, I suppose.

[Zazazu]

I'm not sure I want them in my playables' homes, but I rather enjoy watching their shenanigans in the graveyard.

This. I had Sara's tombstone at the family home for awhile, but watching her excuse for haunting (watching tv, reading, playing with the sprinkler) was boring, and the only "benefit" was that her grandkids were able to talk to her between 5 am and 7 am. The haunt music being the same as the burglar music is lame.

[Alex]

I don't really care for them, as they're essentially translucent sims. However they are rather entertaining when they go off to neighbouring lots, sometimes even hilarious.

[rosess]

I'm not sure I want them in my playables' homes, but I rather enjoy watching their shenanigans in the graveyard.

My original sim is a ghost living alone in her original house, and the grandkids I'm playing pop in now and then for lunch.  The plan is to temporarily move in future generations to drop off family portraits and any new gravestones and throw family reunion parties.  It should be quite the kickin' place in a few generations.  

So far, so fun, though the occasional "your ghost isn't going to live forever" crying-wolf messages are going to add up over time.

[phyllis_p]

I did have a playable ghost for a short time, but that didn't do much for me.  I just like the NPC ghosts who come out at night.  It's kind of what I'd wished for with TS2 -- an extended family, interacting with one another instead of scaring the pee out of each other.  Of course, there are always the cowards.  One of my ghosts is a coward, and every time she looks in the mirror, she faints.  Too funny!

[Roflganger]

One of my ghosts is a coward, and every time she looks in the mirror, she faints.  Too funny!

That cracks my shit up.  I need to kill a coward Sim just to see this. 

This thread opens my eyes to the potential usefulness of NPC ghosts, though; I may just let a few of them stick around now rather than plopping them around the graveyard.

[GnatGoSplat]

They're alright.  I kind of miss that they can't scare sims to death... the pulse check before collapsing after seeing a ghost was kind of cute in a morbid way.
I like how they can talk to them, but it seems dumb that they can hug, kiss, and woohoo them.  They're not supposed to have a physical body.  Maybe it would have been cute if they could attempt to do those things, like fall through a ghost while trying to kiss it or something like that.

I also thought it might be cute if ghosts were only visible to sims that had a Psychic personality trait and they were invisible to sims lacking that trait... kind of like the Social Bunny in Sims 2.  Then when other sims without the Psychic trait saw a sim talking to a ghost, that sim would spin his finger in the air in the "that person is crazy" gesture.

[kemowery]

My self-insertion sim's firstborn (J. Tiberius) married Sandi French.  They got a message that Sandi's mother, Molly French, was close to death so they invited her over to meet her grandson.  She took one look at the kid and died while visiting.  A couple of my sims got the opportunity to make a playable ghost, and I hadn't done it yet, so I went ahead and did it.

Interesting, but I wish there was some kind of play difference.

Eventually, though, I needed to clear some room in the house to bring in some new sims (J. Tiberius' younger brother knocked up his girlfriend and they needed to get married), so I moved Molly French's ghost out along with another sim who had been a family friend living in the house.  They moved into a small house together, and everything was cool.

Now, for some reason, Molly French's ghost has come back.  She wanders around the house, has picked a bed to be hers that she'll sleep in, and makes her own meals out of the fridge.  She's not a playable, and her urn isn't on the lot anymore.  She's just taken to haunting the house.  It'd be more interesting if she wasn't an oldster in addition to being dead, because I'd have a reason to marry her back into the family.

[Simius]

I sort of wish they were a little different than regular sims other than just being translucent.  Like... if you have a playable ghost they should get a positive "witching hour" moodlet between midnight and 4 am.  They probably shouldn't age... I mean, they are ghosts not people.  (although that would screw up having baby ghosts and whatnot.)  They should be extremely afraid of the way they died... So if they died in a fire they should get negative moodlets around stoves/fireplaces/etc and get really negative moodlets around fires.  Ghosts who died of drowning should be afraid of showers/baths/ponds and be super afraid of pools. Ghosts who died of starvation should get negative moodlets at 50% hunger... but positive ones when well fed.  Ghosts who died of old age should be fine.

I'm sure there are other ways ghosts should be different than regular sims... but hey, whatever.

[Faizah]

I would be in favour of ghosts not aging, so long as you could still use a birthday cake or shift-click to force aging.

Elder ghosts just don't seem to die, I had one live twice as long as she should have as an elder before I gave up and forced an age transition, ie, death. But, I've heard that the 'So-and-so on another lot is getting pretty old' message just keeps popping up for them. That's really the only thing keeping me from playable ghosts, because at some point I would want to boot their undying arses out.

The one ghost I had was a drowning ghost, so I gave her the Hydrophobic trait. I think I'd give electrocution ghosts the Technophobe trait. There's not really a negative fire trait, though...

[Lorelei]

The one ghost I had was a drowning ghost, so I gave her the Hydrophobic trait. I think I'd give electrocution ghosts the Technophobe trait. There's not really a negative fire trait, though...

It's too bad there isn't. Or that you can't make them LOVE water.

[kemowery]

Ghosts who died of old age should be fine.

Old Age ghosts could get a negative moodlet when they watch someone have a birthday.

Also, I think ghosts should have some sort of neat abilities beyond constant eerie wailing.

[Rothchild]

I was upset I couldn't haunt objects with my playable ghost like the NPC ghosts can.  I love to sit in chairs or benches while they're being haunted.

[SendMeLies]

Your playing ghost can haunt autonomously, though. Just leave it alone long enough and if there's absolutely nothing to do, it will haunt something.
I'll have to experiment later on traits to see how often it happens. I guess inappropriate, evil and mean spirited should do the trick.

[Rothchild]

Your playing ghost can haunt autonomously, though. Just leave it alone long enough and if there's absolutely nothing to do, it will haunt something.
I'll have to experiment later on traits to see how often it happens. I guess inappropriate, evil and mean spirited should do the trick.

You gave me a great idea.  I just made a quick XML mod to enable the haunt action on playable ghosts.  You just click on the ghost sim and pick haunt.  Unfortunately, the ghost will then randomly select any object on the entire lot to haunt.  Funniest haunting I've seen so far was when my ghost haunted the decoration on the bottom of the pool.

[bloodredtoe]

Funniest haunting I've seen so far was when my ghost haunted the decoration on the bottom of the pool.

Mine possessed money tree!

[blackjackii]

I just wish they'd stay off the damn computers, or at least if there was a way for living Sims to shoo them away.