I would quite like to play a medieval (or other historical) 'hood using premade/user-made sims, but I'm not sure how to make class systems work in game. I would love to hear how you guys play class systems in your games, especially in historical games.

I have a bunch of questions, or you can just share whatever comes to mind!

What classes do you have?

What are the differences between sims/households from different classes?

Are classes linked to money/net worth or are there other factors?

If you play with premade (EAxis) sims, how did you decide which class each sim/household/family would be from, and did you take stuff lile their backstories, net worth and your head canons into account?

Does anyone have strict class systems in modern/futuristic settings? How do they work?

I look forward to reading about other simmers games! :-)

This is a really fun topic for me, especially since I mostly see it done in historical 'hoods, but I do it in a late 90s--early 00s alternate universe.



I have a poor/socially disadvantaged class, a lower middle class, a wealthy class, and an influential/powerful class (which no playable has reached yet).



Sims from the socially disadvantaged class are not allowed to attend college or enter a conventional career, unless certain other (rare) conditions are met. They also mostly live Downtown.
Sims from the lower middle class have no restrictions.
Sims from the wealthy class have appearances to keep up--they have to manage scandal, and they are mostly the sims that count as "rich" for the game purposes. Often they have restrictions about how their money is left and to whom.
Sims from the influential/powerful class would hypothetically be able to make decisions that change the way society functions. For example, a lot of the rules that determine who falls into which class could be changed by an influential sim, should one arise.



Currently, these are the class determining factors (all sims fall into lower middle class unless otherwise specified):
Socially disadvantaged sims meet one or more of these conditions: Born or had a child out of wedlock, extra-terrestrial, currently or formerly a supernatural state that is publicly shunned, had a parent who was socially disadvantaged. It's also possible to lose enough money to be bumped down, though that's very rare.
Wealthy sims belong to a family that either has cash on hand exceeding 200K or has been previously established as "old money" for story purposes. Once the family obtains that amount, the class change is usually kept, even if the money is not.
Influential sims are determined on an individual basis. Maxing the Politics, Education, Law Enforcement, Criminal and possibly Intelligence careers could contribute, as well as a supernatural or extraterrestrial plotline that substantially changed the course of world events. There is no need for an influential sim to have any money whatsoever.



I play Widespot with LFT and Downtown. I started everyone off in lower middle class and waited for the classes to stratify on their own, with the exception of the Mann household, the Worthington household, and the Tricous (not the 6 Teens), all of which started as wealthy.



I wouldn't call mine futuristic. It's an AU. I've been playing the damn thing for 4 years and I only just figured out that it was an AU last week. I guess, to give a very brief idea--Sputnik went up in 1957, and Earth was contacted. We were not alone. Basically, instead of the Cold War happening between the SU and the US, it happened between Earth and the rest of the universe. Earth unified under one government (because nothing unites people like a common enemy) and the influential class arose out of people who had direct contact and influence with the aliens. Earth's entire science and tech focus was shifted to outer space, with the result that time essentially froze for everyone who was not at this ridiculously high level of society. That's why whole generations of my sims live and die and a cell phone is still considered non-essential. They've been left behind by the space race, but the politics of the whole thing still influence their lives--for example, aliens basically being second-class citizens.

For me, I don't think that I would enjoy playing class systems without the social explanation behind it. It's all well and good to say, "These sims are poor, and these sims are rich" but why are they? Without establishing what causes social classes to arise, you're kind of missing half of the story. My social classes come from alien racism and prudery--conditions which sims could change, but which wouldn't be easy. I thought about using actual human racism, but I didn't feel like that was a good fit for Widespot. I thought about using homophobia, but that's a little too close to home for me, and I didn't want to play it. I like the conditions that I have because they're close enough to life to imitate it, so my sims can have real struggles with real issues. It makes it much more satisfying and meaningful when a sim does jump a class, or when a sim chooses to lose a class in order to gain something else.

What classes do you have?

I'm about to reintroduce one to SimHampton (which won't be applicable to the Polgannon area), which is different from the last class system I had. This new one goes Nobles/Citizens (Upper/Middle/Lower class)/Servants/Marginals/Outcasts, which is slightly less anchored towards medieval classes than the Royals/Nobles/Middle/Yeomen/Peasants/Knaves of yore..

What are the differences between sims/households from different classes?

Jobs - which jobs are available depends on class. The largest range of EAxis-style jobs is available to upper-class Citizens (Nobles are expected to not need a formal paying job to meet their expenditure), with certain jobs not available to those of too low a class, as well as a few not available to those of too high a class. Servants have to get permission to take an EAxis-style job (but otherwise can do any EAxis-style job a lower-class Citizen can), while Marginals can do the most disreputable of such jobs and Outcasts may only be Criminals. Also, only Citizens may run a home business, and only they and Nobles can own a commercial lot.

Money - Marginals cannot make more than $200 per day from an EAxis-style job, nor can their households ever be worth more than $20,000. "Side jobs" for Servants cannot make more then $300 per day, and lower-class Citizens are limited to $400 per day, but neither class has a net worth limitation. Middle-class Citizens and above can make as much money as they like, and nobody is restricted in their wage if they are receiving one due to working for another Sim.

Sumptuary laws - classes of Sim are identified by hair colour (hair dye and wigs are about to get really popular, and bald Sims will be allowed to wear hats to identify their class instead)

University attendance - only Nobles and Citizens may attend the University of SimHampton. Middle-class Citizens must be vouched for by another student. Lower-class Citizens can only attend with a Palace scholarship, which comes with strict conditions. Outcast and Marginal teens cannot attend school at all, and Servant teens often only get to go to school on a part-time basis. Having said that, any Sim might be able to pick up a forged degree with the right contacts...

Social communication - Nobles do not voluntarily mingle with anyone below the rank of Citizen except for their own Servants, Citizens avoid Marginals and pretty much everyone avoids Outcasts. The higher the class, the more restricted the range of behaviours it is considered socially acceptable to be expressed in public.

Are classes linked to money/net worth or are there other factors?

Money is not involved in deciding who is in any of these classes.If a Marginal manages to get rich under this system, all power to them, but they're still not going to be allowed into the upper classes without some other reason. A no-Simoleon Noble is still a Noble, albeit not always easy to distinguish from impoverished Sims from other classes..

Things that are involved in a Sim's class are:

- Interest points (the High Ruler selects three areas - which can be anything they want, provided it doesn't make the High Ruler themselves an Outcast. A Sim's number of interest points will provide their "base" class)

- Level of education (the more learning a Sim has shown evidence of doing - a variety of proofs being acceptable, ranging from their university education to what exact job they are holding - the higher their class can be)

- Compliance with laws of the land (breaking a law, or joining/progressing in the Criminal career, can limit social status under certain circumstances)

- The completion or lack of same of certain rites of passage (Nobles, upper-class Citizens, Servants and Marginals expect certain rites of passage from Sims joining their ranks)

- Relationship with the High Ruler (having a very good relationship could allow petitioning for a raising of class beyond what would otherwise be possible, and emnity could potentially lower it)

- Backstory/neighbourhood plot (no Sim will get a class that would be ridiculous given what they have done up to this point).

If you play with premade (EAxis) sims, how did you decide which class each sim/household/family would be from, and did you take stuff lile their backstories, net worth and your head canons into account?

I consider backstories into their class, and head canons into whether they accept it (or even, in some cases, whether they accept the concept of this style of class system at all).

Does anyone have strict class systems in modern/futuristic settings? How do they work?

I'm not sure where in timescale my neighbourhood falls because it has its own calendar and features from all over the timeline.

I love the idea of a class systems, and yes I do have a class systems in my game.

1. Rich: They have the best of everything ( cars, furniture etc. But they think the world evolve around their sometime selfish world only. )
2. Middle Class : Some think they are super rich and can have a snob like attitude.
3. We are not DIRT POOR, but we are making ends meet said my Sims. ( I really don't have a down right poor Sims even my one and only Hermit is ok, he left the world of being rich.
And he gave all of his riches away ) and said he was out of this cruel cold world. LMAO

The funny things is when I started have a class different in my game like where only rich Sims would shop or hang out with, or where the Middle Class would go or the not so dirt poor Sims.
Everyone in the hold neighborhood would come and show up including the townies and most of the townies did not have a dime to spend.

Later I started using Creator TwoJeff's Vistors Controller Mod that help to keep the unwanted out, so now if you are not in that class type you are out.
The Good thing about the Sims unlike us real human is Sims see NO class if they like you they don't care who you are or where you come from.

I haven't any strict classes, really. But I do like to have different community lots catering to different types of Sims - even if the clothing costs exactly the same, the rich Sims are more likely to go to the fancy boutiques while the poorer ones just go to the mall. I also have mods that stop promotions so I can keep the Sims who are meant to be poor from ending up the mayor.

There's a Victorian Challenge that has rules for different classes, and I based a lot of mine on that. They had an unemployed underclass, working poor, upper working class, lower and upper middle class, and the aristocracy and royal family. You'd need a job stopinator for that: I can't remember the exact career levels each class could reach, but what I did was something like level 2 for the working poor (teens could only reach level 1), level 4 for the upper working class (limit of level 2 for teens), level 7 for the lower middle class, and level 10 for the upper middle class, but not in certain professions that the aristocracy reserved for themselves - politics, military and law.

My aristocratic Sims for that hood were all CAS, and I used the family bin Sims for the lower classes. The Newson orphans were a shoo-in for unemployed underclass, the Ottomases made a good working poor family, the Gavigans were upper middle class.

I had rural subhoods where the very poor lived in tiny huts that were heavily mortgaged, and had to live on what they grew (no greenhouses), Cyd Roseland was the upper working class gamekeeper (he had no rent/mortgage to pay, and could fish on public lands, plus he had the Crittur dogs and 'rented them out' - i.e. they had pet jobs in security), a CAS sim was a gentleman farmer (with a greenhouse and his own pond).

I didn't have any CC clothing at the time, but I tried to pick appropriate attire from the vanilla clothing available and made members of each class stick to their 'uniform'. Gabriella Newson was the hardest - there are no vanilla girl's clothes for a pauper, and she wound up wearing a pirate outfit!

I make use of the "PrintClassLot" cheat, and will decorate using low environmental goods.

What classes do you have?
Upper, Middle, Lower - Starting new game so it's hard to see right now

What are the differences between sims/households from different classes?
First difference is environment. Lower class more likely to live in cities crammed in side by side next to ugly buildings, or to have big empty fields with few built structures. Middle will live in pretty appartment buildings if in the city, in the countryside they live near neighbours who also favour the suburban life. MC are more likely to own cars and have flowers in the front yard.
Upper class own the largest plot possible, usually far away from everyone else. They'll have spare rooms in abundance.

Poor own less clothes, and the style is more ugly. Only UC can wear the fur coats. Richer sims have tons and tons of clothes, art and stuff to fill up their house at expensive quality. MC have less and spend more on family. UC give a lot to charity, so have museums, roads, shops, schools, hospitals named after themselves. The MC set this up, because their usually working and adminstrating. The poor just try not to starve, but have more intresting careers as they may not always choose maxis jobs. After a while UC quit work and get bored.

Are classes linked to money/net worth or are there other factors?
Mine are set solely to the 'printlotclass". If they are in the wrong class i move the house to somewhere more crowded, and sell a bunch of stuff and buy them poorer stuff, or visa versa.

If you play with premade (EAxis) sims, how did you decide which class each sim/household/family would be from, and did you take stuff lile their backstories, net worth and your head canons into account?
See above. When the kids move out,those that go to the local YMCA move down in class, whilst those who rent an appartment with friends can stay the same class as their parents.

Does anyone have strict class systems in modern/futuristic settings? How do they work?
Thinking of doing class system in sci-fi, but then the challenge would be all classes the same. I would make the aliens lower class instead. This turn I'm gonna try class system using witches.

Some have high status but no money, like the Willards who own the forest and are woodcutters. That's because they have potential to be rich one day and land is expensive. I left all of Gabe's ex-wife's treasure's in her pocket (Riverblossom Hills) because I want her poor, divorced and in need of sympathy. This way, child maintenance payments really hit.

It took me a while to get back to this since I was trying to condense my ideas. I spoke about my medieval classes here, but I'll try to elaborate on a few aspects I didn't discuss as much.

What classes do you have? Does anyone have strict class systems in modern/futuristic settings? How do they work?
Regardless of my hoods' settings, I tend to have 2 class systems - social and economic, generally with upper, upper middle, lower middle, and lower sub-classes.

Social standing generally refers to their reputation among their fellow residents while economic standing is based purely on actual properties. There's more of a difference between the two in my fantasy hoods but they're often tied together in the human hoods. Social classes, especially in fantasy realms, are mostly determined by line of work and dependent on the type of society they live in; in some villages, healers are considered of higher social class while guards rank the same in another. On the other hand, some criminals are more "revered" in certain human hoods and are notoriously powerful and rich, yet some are at the bottom of both the social and economic ladders. It's then possible for healers to have a positive social standing while being in the middle or lower economic class, which provides variety.

What are the differences between sims/households from different classes? Are classes linked to money/net worth or are there other factors?
In fantasy hoods, factors that affect social standing may include race (some hoods value mixed heritage and others prefer pure-breeding, among other reasons), type of work, character (may tie in with the AL reputation system), and social impact (an ordinary fish farmer may suddenly be treated much more nicely after she somehow saves the village from famine, for example). Restrictions vary - some aren't allowed at certain community lots and events, others can only live on the outskirts of their villages, and/or they might not be able to take up certain careers. The fantasy hoods don't focus on economy as much though, so social classes naturally hold more weight.

The human hoods are typically harsher in approach, and there's a general rule that supernaturals are outcasts, thus I rarely have any sort of the latter here. Social and economic classes usually correlate with each other, however. Like EmeraldFalcon, my upper class sims need a minimum of 200, 000 on hand or are story-line old money, yet it's a notoriously difficult climb and it's challenging to maintain the standing. Upper and upper middle class sims tend to live in their own houses with nicer furnishings (not an easy feat with all of the economic restrictions in place), while everyone else lives in apartments. The lower class are relegated to districts consisting of hostels or rundown buildings with communal facilities.

Factors that affect social and economic standing include setting (sometimes scientists are admired, sometimes not in post-apocalyptic hoods) career, lineage (children born out of wedlock, descending from a family of criminals), and education. What also matter are interests, wants rolled, and motivation level, which determines toddler skills and, subsequently, skill levels (more elaboration in my linked post). Underachievers are limited to 3, average to 5, and overachievers to 10, but the caps may be lowered depending on their circumstances. An overachieving lower class sim can work their way up to the top while the lazy upper class may fall, so there are some shifts in the classes, yet I've never actually had an sim make it to upper class with such a playstyle. Generally, sims in Politics and Business are considered of higher standing while the others vary depending on the type of hood.

There are strict restrictions in terms of career types and levels, education, venue and event presence, possessions (including clothing styles), and housing. University has rigid requirements so not many actually attend regardless of class but upper class and upper middle class sims are more likely to make it and those of low social standing don't, university graduates can only top careers they have a related degree for, and non-university graduates are limited to NPC careers (homeless included). Private schools are limited to upper class and upper middle class sims (the only ones who can pay the fees I've implemented) who meet the requirements, and teens from lower middle and lower classes aren't allowed to have part-time carpool jobs to put them on par with the adult NPC careers. Certain community lots and special events are reserved for specific classes as well.

I tend to be character-driven, so although sims are classified as such, I also search for reasons why they could be that way - it doesn't really help me that okay, you're a lower-class underachiever and that's it. One sim might see their situation as hopeless so doesn't see the point in working so hard for nothing while another might be genuinely content with their circumstances. It's a sim-to-sim basis as well - if an overachieving sim has shown no other signs of being so in any area at all (career, relationship-wise, or other), then they're played as an average sim; I don't usually do it the other way around though.

If you play with premade (EAxis) sims, how did you decide which class each sim/household/family would be from, and did you take stuff like their backstories, net worth and your head canons into account?
I have a BG hood + downtown megahood that I've had for years, recreated from an original one that was made via corruption (elaboration here), which colored my views on certain premades. Furthermore, it's the only hood I currently have that has both supernaturals and humans at the same time, although restricted to specific subhoods. I did study their biographies and histories, but I edited most of them to my liking and some ended up falling to the ROS, so I'm not sure how useful it'll be to anyone. I didn't actually take net worth into account because I like determining their classes and net worth for myself based on other factors. I also noticed that most of the premades were rather well-off, which didn't work out for my playstyle. The only upper-class sims I have in this hood are the Capulets (Capps originally and at present moment, they've been divided into several upper middle class families save for one branch) and Lavoisiers (originally the Tricous; explanation in the link above).

I have not actually started my medieval hood, but I have done quite a bit of brainstorming and planing, so I'll share that. (None of the hoods I'm currently playing have a class system.)


Royal, Noble, Clergy, Commoner, Romani, and Fairy. Pirates exist as a special subset of Commoner.
I suppose it could be said that all Royals are Nobles but not all Nobles are Royals. In practice Royals have more restrictions than Nobles.


The main differences between the classes are which careers they have available and the responsibilities and expectations of that class, but options for Class Mobility are also a factor.



Responsibilities are what a sim should do in order to fulfill their duty to their family, their kingdom, and their monarch.
Expectations are general cultural ideas of what a sim of that class/station will do.





Class Mobility can occur in three directions: Upward, Downward, and "Sideways."

Classes are essentially stratified thus:
Royalty
Nobility / Clergy
Commoners / Romani / Fairies

Clergy are very much a special case, as joining the Clergy is definitely an upward motion for commoners, but is not exactly considered downward for nobles. Romani and Fairies essentially live outside the class structure and are therefore considered roughly the same as Commoners by those who live within that structure. (If you're not a Royal, a Noble, or a member of the Clergy, well...Commoner is the only thing left...right?) Pirates also essentially live outside the class structure, but there would be more Mobility for them than for either Romani or Fairies. Most Class Mobility would of course be within that four class structure of Royals, Nobles, Clergy, and Commoners.




I would say money is linked more to class. Since everyone but Royals are paying taxes to the Monarch, the Monarch will inevitably accumulate and retain more wealth. Classes are established at the beginning of play, and Royals and Nobles will have much higher net worth than the other classes.

If anyone's curious to see my ideas for Prestige, Infamy and Piety, please do let me know and I'll happily ramble about them as well.

I use Cyjon's Edukashunizgud or however it's spelled mod. So if a sim didn't go to college, they can't progress too far in their career. And Phaenoh's redone college/career mod, so that things like Artist are available to non-grads but Science and Medicine aren't.

I also use Pescado's more expensive NPCs, and use the custom NPC careers (here at MTS) for poorer sims, or put them in owned business jobs. Hiring a nanny costs more than they can earn in a day. Students who don't have a C can't go to college, and sims who don't go to college don't get ahead. Then each college is linked to certain careers--a sim who goes to LFT can't go into medicine--that requires a better school. SSU wants an A to get in. LFT wants an A and private school and eight scholarships or friendships with two Alumni--it's the elite school--either you're a really good student or you're connected. Getting on academic probation at SSU gets a sim expelled to LFT. ALT students all live in the dorm together, so they naturally tend to meet and marry other ALT students. SSU students live in the dorms or greeks, or in married student housing. (I haven't quite figured out how to integrate Peni's LGU, but it'll happen.)

Then, there are certain lots that are only for certain types of sims. For example, Rich Mann owns Rodney's Hideout, and I have it set so only Criminal sims can be customers. The Mann Gang all know each other--and I know which townies and downtownies are part of it.

So that's another way to control who gets to know whom. Also, since I use the playable schools, most kids have met the others of their social class and socialized with them growing up. Because the main thing with social classes in the game, Apartment Life notwithstanding, is that they're all in our heads. Sims want to make friends or enemies with whomever they happen to meet out and about, they're naturally completely unprejudiced, so when we want to play classes, we have to control who meets who and how they interact in order to get the behaviors we want to see.

@Sunbee Thank you for telling us about creator Cyjon's Mod Edukashuniz this is perfect for me to add. ( I never knew this was around )

What classes do you have?/Are classes linked to money/net worth or are there other factors?

I play a present-day hood, so my classes are linked almost exclusively to net worth. I've never had names for the classes before, but I guess these make sense:

Very rich- over $200,000 in household funds (cash on hand, not including lot value)

Rich- over $100,000 in household funds

Upper class- over $100,000 in net worth (including lot value)

Upper middle class- over $50,000 in net worth

Middle class- over $20,000 in net worth

Lower middle class- $10,000-$20,000 in net worth

Lower class- under $10,000 in net worth

Poor- $3000-$5000 in net worth

Very poor- under $3000 in net worth


What are the differences between sims/households from different classes?

I restrict access to lots depending on their class, limit their job paths and levels, limit housing choices, limit who they date and are friends with, etc. Only sims from upper middle class and above can send their children to private school.

I don't limit who can go to university, but students have to have $20,000 to attend, so it's generally middle class and up. But poorer sims can send their children with scholarships and loans.

Exceptions- the mayor has access to all the rich sim lots regardless of actual net worth. If the sim went to university, they're considered middle class regardless of net worth. Also sim families who are sending their children to university don't become "poor" just because I've taken $20,000 out of their household funds, they maintain their status as long as they're capable of earning it back in a reasonable amount of time.

It's not an exact science because I don't think the household net worth includes business/vacation lots, and apartment net worth is always wonky because I don't think it includes the value of the contents. But for the ones on the cusp, I know where they fall.

In my medieval hood I have so far 3 classes: Poor, Merchant and Nobles. No royalty as of yet.

When I add a new family to the game, they start off as dirt poor. They are not allowed to have a Maxis job, only whatever they can eke out and sell on the home lot. No school, no apprentices etc.

Once they make enough to pay §10 000 to the main noble family in the area, they become Merchants. They can take in apprentices and also have an owned business lot if they want. Still no time for school. Certain default replacement careers allowed, like Midwife etc. (See Plumbob keep for awesome careers)

To become Nobles, they have to marry a daughter into one of the noble families and also pay §100 000 to the main noble family. So this doesn't happen very often at all. Nobles can go to school, and have certain default replacement careers like Knight or Reeve.

Only in my medieval game.

What classes do you have? peasant, merchant, noble, royal, church, magical.


What are the differences between sims/households from different classes?

Peasants: Range from homeless to having small roadside stalls with small farms.
The poorest I add dirt overlays too.
They are not allowed books since they can't read
They may make money by scrounging from bins, busking, playing Bek's flute, washing clothes or selling produce/ milk/ cream and eggs (If they have a goat and or chickens.) The men may also take peasant worker jobs.
They don't get to rest if they are ill.
Children do not go to school and are expected to do a lot of chores around the house.
men are not directed to do household chores but may do them autonomously.

Merchants: Have home or community business. The hunter and miner are the lowest of the merchant class.
The main merchants are the blacksmith, candle maker, salt maker, tailor, baker innkeeper, live in household servants.
The highest merchants would be the doctor, royal guards (if they become knights they move up to Nobel) and the governesses. I guess also the butlers although are NPC's.
They are given one motherload to start with mainly to set up their shop. Extra money may be earned by the ladies knitting, painting or sewing.
Children may go to go to public school or not.
They can read and may skill from books.


Nobels: May own nice businesses such as a restaurant or high fashion clothing stores.
The men may take knight careers.
The ladies may make extra money by knitting or painting or sewing. They may not go to the tavern. (because of the special drinking keg and naked dancing by elderly townie men and because some townie girl proposed to the Queen... and goodness knows what else. Not a place for a lady of class. What they get up to at home though is another matter)
Nobels start with 2 motherloads.
They may have live in servants.
Children have a governess and homeschool or may go to private school.
Boys are expected to go to knight school for uni. Girls go to finishing type school where they learn to cook and sew.

Royals: Are basically nobles but have unlimited cash.

The Church is the monastery and nunnery. Respected and somewhere between merchant and Nobel.
The monks go into the monk career, they also grow grapes and make wine.
The nunnery: I don't have yet, but this will be for unmarried daughters.
(likewise no tavern crawling)

Magical: Right now that consists of the Good Witch and the Evil Warlock. I would like elves and other creatures as well since this is fantasy medieval. They may have their own social classes within the social class.

Are classes linked to money/net worth or are there other factors?
Yes to money and life state. Sims may marry up and down a class so long as they are not peasants. Marrying a peasant brings anyone of higher class back down.
If a peasant can make 10K they move up to merchant class.

If you play with premade (EAxis) sims, how did you decide which class each sim/household/family would be from, and did you take stuff like their backstories, net worth and your head canons into account?
Only townies in my medieval hood and they are either peasant or merchant depending on how they dress.