This is an extension of this post where I posted my feedback regarding the current state of the game while having over 500 hours in-game.
I wanted to expand on the idea of how I would love to see personalities play out, so I thought about giving examples by analyzing what we currently have in-game to play with.
For this we have to understand what each thing is supposed to do, we have so many things that could make each Zoi play out differently, but currently all Zois pretty much act 99% the same.
Personalities, how they should work (in my opinion):
Let’s start with listing the traits:
Perfectionist:
- You shine brightest when everything is done to perfection.
- You care about order and are meticulous about everything.
- You find comfort and stability in being thorough.
Innovator:
- You shine brightest when leading change with strong conviction.
- You value what’s right and never bend to injustice.
- You enjoy keeping up with what’s going on in the world.
Recluse:
- You’re most at peace when you’re alone.
- You cherish stillness and inner peace.
- You prefer spending time with yourself over being around others.
Charmer:
- You shine brightest when expressing your heartfelt affection.
- You nurture your relationships with kindness and devotion.
- You love deeply and express your emotions to the fullest.
Socialite:
- You shine brightest when all eyes are on you.
- You’re outgoing and make friends with ease.
- You become the heart of any gathering with your bright energy.
Go-Getter:
- You shine brightest when chasing your goals.
- You value success and recognition, passionate about improving yourself.
- You constantly challenge yourself to grow.
Visionary:
- You shine brightest when expressing your emotions through creativity.
- You express your delicate inspiration through art, music, or writing.
- You build your own world with a unique voice and style.
Individualist:
- You shine brightest when walking your own path.
- You enjoy solitude and focus on inner growth.
- You’re independent and free-spirited.
Explorer:
- You shine brightest when searching for truth.
- You’re fascinated by how things work and always find yourself inspecting them.
- You love to observe and explore at all times.
Intellectual:
- You shine brightest when honing your knowledge and skills.
- You prefer discussing knowledge and information.
- You love reading and digging into how the world really works.
Sentinel:
- You shine brightest when you’re careful and deliberate.
- You prefer a calm daily routine and steady relationships.
- You treasure your bond with family.
Rulebreaker:
- You shine brightest when stirring up chaos in society.
- You defy rules and morals, thriving in the chaos that follows.
- You reject structure and prefer to walk your own path.
Troublemaker:
- You shine with your quirky, mischievous pranks.
- You have a playful, childlike charm.
- You brighten up any space with your joyful energy.
Adventurer:
- You shine brightest when stepping into a whole new world.
- Curiosity often gets the better of your fear.
- You come alive through challenge and adventure.
Authoritarian:
- You shine brightest when standing firm in your beliefs.
- You won’t back down when things don’t go your way.
- You have a strong will and can be uncompromising.
Leader:
- You shine brightest when leading a group.
- You take the lead with bold confidence and clear decisions.
- You’re highly responsible and influential.
Pacifist:
- You shine brightest when avoiding conflict and keeping the peace.
- You value harmony and build relationships with warmth and care.
- You highly value helping others and giving back.
Idealist:
- You shine brightest when letting your dreams and imagination run wild.
- You enjoy daydreaming and draw ideals from within.
- You enjoy thoughtful, meaningful conversations.
Now the characteristics:
Extroverted:
You enjoy listening to music, singing, dancing, busking, and watching music programs. You become Excited when you enter a club.
Introverted:
You don't enjoy conversations and feel uncomfortable around strangers.
Cheerful:
You easily find Fun and become Content from your preferred activities and positive conversations.
Depressed:
You often feel sad after negative conversations or activities you dislike. When Sad, you become deeply immersed in writing or art creation activities.
Clumsy:
You have a high chance of breaking everything you touch. Your Cooking and Handiwork skills improve slowly.
Bookworm:
You enjoy reading and writing. You find peace in quiet moments, lost in the printed word.
Emotionally Needy:
You feel anxious or sad when things aren't going well with family or a sweetheart. You often check your sweetheart's account because of insecurities over the relationship.
Fitness Enthusiast:
You can work out anywhere and become lethargic without fitness activities. You become Excited when you enter a gym.
Lively:
You enjoy listening to music, singing, dancing, busking, and watching music programs. You become Excited when you enter a club.
Neat Freak:
You clean and wash frequently. You feel Annoyed when things aren't clean and become Content when they are.
Childish:
You enjoy funny conversations and prefer children's books or shows.
Genius:
Your Critical Thinking and Programming skills improve quickly. You don't fail during repairs. Your creative activities and skill improvement are faster than others.
Slacker:
You tend to leave empty dishes and books lying around. Working out or even washing up feels like a hassle. You rest a lot, love taking naps, and your Sleep gauge depletes quickly.
Materialistic:
You find Fun in buying new clothes or furniture. You're sensitive about your appearance and get Annoyed easily when you're not clean.
Malicious:
Your actions often make others uncomfortable, and you find Fun with conflict. You even enjoy stirring things up on purpose from time to time.
Workaholic:
Zois with this characteristic tend to be diligent workers who feel anxious when they're out of work.
Now the values, which change during gameplay, it reads:
When a value score exceeds 60 points, value-specific interactions and conversations are added, along with opportunities to experience special events.
All values that score over 60 points will affect the Zoi’s life, and the value with the highest score becomes the core value.
Coexistence:
Zois with the Coexistence value emphasize the importance of humanity and nature living in harmony and mutual dependence.
- They pursue ideals such as equality, world peace, inner harmony, a beautiful world, and social justice, actively working towards environmental protection and human rights.
- They also emphasize the importance of individuals and communities working together for a sustainable future, dedicating themselves to creating a world where all living beings can coexist in harmony with the environment.
Authority:
Zois with the Authority value strive for social power and prestige, aiming to gain control over resources and people.
- They flaunt their achievements to secure promotions and higher positions, focusing on building relationships with influential Zois.
- By taking on leadership roles, setting organizational direction, and leading key projects, they aim to strengthen their authority and boost their social recognition and wealth.
Safety:
Zois with the Safety value emphasize social and emotional stability, avoiding risks, and favoring predictable environments.
- They maintain health and hygiene, prioritize close family relationships, and highly value national security and social order.
- They participate as stable and harmonious members of the community and prefer low-risk investment options.
- Such behaviors guarantee personal and family safety and stability, reflecting a lifestyle dedicated to continuous stability and security.
Challenge:
Zois with the Challenge value seek new experiences and adventures, driven by a strong desire to break free from everyday routines.
- They enjoy a variety of exciting experiences through travel, new hobbies, and extreme sports.
- They also take pleasure in widely sharing their experiences, striving for a daring and diverse life.
- By constantly seeking new and enjoyable experiences and boldly taking on new challenges, they make their lives more fulfilling.
Accomplishment:
Zois with the Accomplishment value strive to prove their abilities according to societal standards and achieve personal success.
- They set goals, develop detailed plans, consistently enhance their skills, and invest extra time to excel at work or in their studies.
- By obtaining professional certifications, taking online courses, and participating in competitions, they seek to demonstrate their competence and intellectual prowess, aiming for influential positions.
- Such behaviors reflect their ambition for a successful life, ongoing self-development, and increased self-esteem.
Autonomy:
Zois with the Autonomy value prioritize independent thinking, actions, and choices, emphasizing personal freedom and self-determination.
- They aim to minimize interference from others, valuing starting their own business or making significant personal decisions independently.
- They also enjoy planning solo trips, dedicating time to their hobbies and passions, and setting and pursuing their own objectives.
- These actions protect their curiosity and privacy, foster creativity, and demonstrate a life led by their own rules.
Comformity:
Zois with the Conformity value strictly adhere to societal expectations and norms, emphasizing the importance of controlling actions or impulses that could harm others.
- They respect their parents and elders and strive to resolve conflicts through dialogue and compromise, even when there are differences of opinion.
- They also diligently follow workplace or school regulations, value etiquette at social events, and maintain a polite demeanor.
- These behaviors enhance self-cultivation, reinforce social harmony, and foster a sense of personal responsibility, leading to a harmonious and responsible life in society based on politeness and self-control.
Love:
Zois with the Love value prioritize the well-being and happiness of those around them, actively supporting their needs.
- They help family and friends in times of difficulty, strive for their growth and development, and celebrate important days by organizing special events.
- Such behaviors reflect their pursuit of a meaningful life that works towards realizing genuine friendship and mature love.
Pleasure:
Zois driven by the Pleasure value pursue instant gratification and happiness, emphasizing sensory pleasures in life.
- They enjoy gourmet food, dedicate much of their time to hobbies, and eagerly partake in activities such as dining at upscale restaurants, attending concerts, and watching movies.
- They also embrace luxury and consumption as part of their daily life, actively practicing a joyful lifestyle.
- This demonstrates the importance they place eon sensory satisfaction, and pleasurable experiences as a way of improving their quality of life.
Tradition:
Zois with the Tradition value prioritize respecting and embracing their culture's customs and organizational practices.
- They focus on preserving and passing down cultural heritage and traditions, celebrating traditional festivals and holidays, and actively continuing ancestral customs.
- They also exhibit humility and dedication in accepting their roles in life, demonstrating deep respect for traditions.
- These behaviors emphasize maintaining and transmitting cultural identity, reflecting efforts to harmonize and carry forward the values of both the past and the present.
All this reads amazing, however the reality currently is different. Each Zoi if all this actually was leading the Zoi’s life, it’d make Zois act completely different, heck even dress different.
For values, I don’t really know how the game manages them, Say I have a charmer but her top value is authority, which kind of contradict each other. Charmer is about expressing emotions, making friends, etc. while authority is basically shoving the Zoi’s achievements down other Zoi’s throats.
If all these things were actually considered during gameplay, the Zois would act completely different and you would be able to tell when a zoi is a socialite or a troublemaker or a individualist, just by how they act.
Lets give some scenarios of how it should actually work:
Profile 1:
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Trait: Charmer
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Characteristics: Cheerful & emotionally needy
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Main value: Love
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Preferences:
- Romantic Films
- Cake
- Painting
- Yoga
- Novels
- Coffee
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Desired Life: Life of Harmony
Actions:
From charmer: This Zoi likes expressing her affection with kindness and devotion (friendly and romantic), if you love deeply and express all your emotions with no filter (even if they’re negative, yet you find ways around it to express them without conflict). This Zoi is careful on their approach most of the time.
From Characteristics: Being cheerful this Zoi will often feel good while talking to other Zois as it compensates the charmer trait, this Zoi will do what they love (preferences) when they feel down and will maintain a good mood. However, this Zoi is emotionally needy which elevates the negative emotions if something feels slightly off with your relationships.
From Values: This Zoi cares a lot about what’s going on with their loved ones, and is always thinking about them, complementing the trait and the cheerful characteristic while unbalancing it from the emotionally needy characteristic.
How it plays:
This Zoi when in a family setting:
Will care for their family, whatever is going on with them, this Zoi knows about it, if playing with Smart Zoi, they will let the player know about their constant worry about their loved ones “Are they ok?”, “Should I check on them?”, “My dad is stressed, maybe I can do something to cheer him up… maybe a dessert? What was his favorite food?”. If they sense something is wrong with a loved one they’ll investigate and help them out, maybe their logic level is low and they won’t understand what’s happening and that’s overwhelming for them. They will want to go out, craft something and gift it to their loved ones so they feel better. They will send texts to others to check on them. This Zoi wants to go out to watch romantic films at the movies, and wants to have dates, they will autonomously buy tickets to watch movies and plan dates with their sweetheart. They rather go to the movies or coffee shops (from preferences) than going to the convenience store. They like doing Yoga over other sports because it provides the Zoi with clarity.
This Zoi will want to talk a lot, but they will also understand the other’s boundaries. The emotionally needy characteristic makes this Zoi be a little too involved in other’s life’s, which some times causes conflict and rejection, overwhelming at times and other times completely sweet and selfless.
This Zoi would rather have a bicycle (from Ambition) as it doesn’t pollute the environment as much as a car. This Zoi loves animals and finds comfort by interacting with them, taking care of them, and maybe, even, bring one stray home.
This Zoi when in a solo household:
Will want to meet people right away, and will connect with them at a deep level, this Zoi will constantly spam others with messages as they don’t like to feel alone. They will call Zois over to chill, or plan dates automatically to meet and watch a romantic movie, they might find their sweetheart at a coffee shop or during a walk with their stray dog.
This Zoi will quickly improve their rhetoric and charm skills to connect easily with others. Other Zois might block this Zoi from their contact list because depending on the other Zoi’s profile they might get overwhelmed by the constant push of this Zoi. While this Zoi might find that as an issue (if their logic is high enough), this Zoi will notice rejection and depending on their relationship level, they might even go visit to check on them and see if they’re ok. Maybe they will ask this Zoi to tone it down, and that might depress this Zoi a little. When coming home, they will cry in the shower because they don’t understand, after they feel a little better, they might prepare their favorite food (which depending on their cooking or baking level, could help or worsen the situation - quality of food) and sit to read a book while eating alone at home. Their dog might come around and give this Zoi comfort.
WIth Smart Zoi they could think “That was rude of them, but I understand.” or if their emotionally needy characteristic takes over, they might not accept this result and will find ways to fix the relationship through Smart Zoi thinking, and plan the next steps accordingly whether it’s scheduling a visit to their home, a date, crafting something to give as a gift? let the story unfold!
Profile 2:
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Trait: Socialite
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Characteristics: Slacker & Materialistic
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Main value: Authority
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Preferences:
- Dancing
- Singing
- Guitar
- Watching Comedy Films
- Appreciating Art
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Desired Life: Life of Abundance
Actions:
From Socialite: This Zoi loves gathering with friends, hates being alone, they love going out to night clubs, coffee shops, movies and any place where they can find new friends.
From Characteristics: Being a slacker, this Zoi will try to avoid calling friends over their house because they will have a whole mess! BUT since they’re materialistic, they might hire a quick service to clean up while they chill watching TV, “let others do the work”. Or maybe even, brings that one friend that is a neat freak knowing they will help out clean the mess.
From Values: This Zoi will use his social skills to influence people do their bidding. Maybe they will use their rhetoric and charm to get things for free as they’re masters of gaslighting without others noticing. They will show their things like they’re the greatest things in the world, maybe they bought a comic book that is limited edition and it’s a piece of art and they will flaunt it like the greatest achievement because it was expensive.
How it plays:
This Zoi when in a family setting:
Will cause havoc at home, and use his skills to influence others to do what he needs done. Doing the dishes? Nah. Let someone else do it, I can influence others do what I want and be praised for it. Or maybe that’s what this Zoi thinks…
They will schedule social gatherings when their home is clean, without asking for permission, they wll stay late at night and cause a wreck at home, because fun and social life first. They might even start at home and follow up at the club to have an amazing all nighter. We got school tomorrow? Lets skip it, I’m lazy, I can’t be bothered with school. You know what sounds better? Let’s go watch a movie.
This Zoi’s parent is a Leader, and gets angry at this Zoi because they’re a wreck, this Zoi keeps spending family money for art that they don’t even need (they already have over 50 pieces of art at home). But hey! They need that new guitar signed by the famous Zoi that costs 100,000 because they like guitars and it’s a piece of art, but they won’t even go to work to earn some income, they’re too lazy.
This Zoi when in a solo household:
They will find ways to control other Zois, maybe use social media to build up their influencer life. This Zoi could earn money out of creating music and have a social channel about it, they will earn through freelancing whenever they want. Maybe his music skill is high enough that this Zoi ends up becoming famous to afford all his little heart desires. He’d flaunt their wealth to their other materialistic friends, and end up spending on things they don’t even need because now it’s a competition of who has more stuff. They will find joy when they say “I spent 2,000,000 on this statue” while the other materialistic Zoi just spent "1,999,000” for a similar one.
This Zoi is all about lazy life, but they want a social life, so they will hire services to keep the house clean and his clothes tidy. They could hire an international chef from Cahaya’s resort to come to his weekly party and cook for their guests.
This Zoi will spend their days walking through life, spending, flaunting, bragging, and being ultimately lazy about everything, but finding ways to make it work. And if it doesn’t work and loses everything, well, we know he can use his manipulative skills to get some money from the bank for free as an investment for their new venture.
These are just scenarios to show how each Zoi should act differently depending on their profile, their preferences, memories (which I didn’t even mention but should also play an important part on decision making), trait, desired life, values, characteristics. We have so much to play with, yet the Zois still feel the same.
I understand this is a work in progress and some progress has been done (not going to say they haven’t done any progress, they have!), but this I feel is something that should be one if not THE top priority to get right. If you have Zois that have real personalities and allow the other systems to support these personalities in different ways, then the game would really shine.
Yes we can have more jobs, yes we can have new locations, yes we can have more stuff, but if all these are just considered “stuff” and not actual things that support the Zois to shine even brighter then we’ll just have a bunch of systems with shallow gameplay, which no one wants xD
We all want Zois that feel different, that have their own quirks, that have real personalities, not just cute Zois (even though I love cute Zois).
Hope this helps explain what sauce is missing from the game and shed some light on the current personalities problem.