It's interesting to play through it and then try to make sense of it and create a story. For me, I instantly thought of a story idea, but then altered it as I played and things changed. I'll also tell it in a less linear way, though it will still follow the life events. I liked playing through the whole life and then looking back. It's almost like writing a memoir for a sim.

It really is a nice break from a more set-up story, even though I'm still doing that in some places (I have been documenting scenes if I know they'll be useful, but others will have to be fleshed out later).

ACR has done wonders for adding spice. I especially love risky woohoo and how sims can try to get pregnant on their own. It's very interesting with a female romance/family sim. I let her choose the genetics for some of the children, though I chose the options she could pick from.

I've never tried those age hacks. I'm a little nervous about them. There's always the elixer of life for extending sim life, but something to make pets age faster would be useful at times.