then comes divorce... gameplay notes on marriage and divorce in TS4

We will call this a part two to my previous "first comes love... gameplay notes on love and marriage in TS4." Next comes divorce for an average 28% of my couples, who still happily reap a better chance of marital success than most real life couples do. Even so, I think I still let my couples throw in the towel much more frequently than most simmers do. What can I say? Relationship strife interests me? lol!

In TS4 in just a year of gameplay so far, I have had four married couples come to the brink of disaster, three of which are almost certainly going to make it through to their divorces. Bruce and Pamela, Keri and Justin, Stephanie and Jeremiah—I'm calling Bella and Cameron my fourth couple, even though they've decided to give counseling a try and not call it quits just yet, because they've given me enough chaos and fodder to be part of this study.

a bit of backstory for Bell and Cam

The backstory for Ophelia's birth is a little all over the place between a few different blogs. She was born in the messy haze of my transition between playing TS2 and TS3, so I wanted to gather some of it together so people didn't have to do too much digging for this branch of the story.

Ophelia was conceived in TS2, on her parents' honeymoon, actually. Bell was worried then about losing her job. Her producers were annoyed at the first two surprise pregnancies, and when the third came along, she knew she was going to be in trouble. And she did lose that part in the end, especially as her pregnancy became complicated and she would not have been able to work at all for a very long time.

Cameron

Cameron Matthew Gibson, "Cam"

age: 34
born: November 4, 2052, Scorpio
parents: not local
siblings: 3 brothers, not local
children: Delilah Gibson, Naomi Gibson, Ophelia Gibson

child aspiration: motor, achieved
aspiration: undecided (= OMG I need my pleasure aspiration back!)
traits: business savvy, great kisser, physically gifted, absent-minded, neat, playful (fussy, vain, oblivious)
loves: card games, weekends, electronica, dance clubs, light and shadow
hates: 9-5s, stress

education:
- high school, Warren, MI class of 2069
- university: EMU class of 2073 (Arts & Design)

career: studio photographer/owner, Bright Expressions Photography
career history:
- bartender (age 22-26)
- photo journalism (age 27-32)
- "graphic design work," Maxwell Shaw enterprises (age 33-35)


orientation: bisexual, leaning straight
romance: Isabelle Gibson, married since August 2083, together since August 2079
romantic history
- Skyla Pepper, affair, age 36
- Lorena Blair, affair, age 35
- Dana Gilmore, affair, age 32

friendships: Maxwell Shaw
enemies:

DNA: hair, dark brown; eyes, gray; adult height, 5'10"

health history:
- poor eyesight, age 20 - present

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