Revision 2

Overview

The Wants System is a core gameplay mechanic in Paralives that provides players with small, achievable objectives throughout each in-game day. Wants are not assigned randomly; they are directly tied to a Parafolk's current emotional state, their baseline Vibe, and their lifestyle habits. By completing Wants, players earn Personality Points that can be used to upgrade and develop their Para's personality over time.

The system is designed to give purpose to everyday activities while remaining flexible enough that players can choose which Wants to pursue and which to ignore. This player-driven approach ensures that Wants feel like optional goals rather than mandatory tasks.

How Wants Work

Wants appear as small objectives in the Parafolk's interface, drawing from their current emotions, Vibes, and habits. The process for selecting Wants works as follows:

1. The player observes their Parafolk's current emotional state (displayed as small icons next to the Para's portrait).

2. The player clicks on an emotion to choose an emotional reaction.

3. Based on the chosen emotion, a set of available Wants appears, each matching the mood of that feeling.

4. The player picks which Wants they want their Parafolk to pursue.

5. Completing a Want earns Personality Points.

Different emotions generate different types of Wants. For example, a sad Parafolk might receive Wants such as:

• Clean something

• Level up food knowledge

• Spend 2 hours outside

• Watch TV for 2 hours

Meanwhile, a happy and neat Para might have the Want to clean something up, while an energetic Para might receive Wants related to physical activities. The connection between emotions and Wants ensures that the objectives always feel contextually appropriate.

Personality Points

Fulfilling Wants provides Personality Points, the in-game currency that Parafolk accumulate as a measure of experience and accomplishment. These points function similarly to experience points (XP) in other games, tracking how much a Para has achieved during their life.

Personality Points can be spent to upgrade a Parafolk's personality over time. When enough points are accumulated to level up, players can choose to evolve their Para's talents, perks, and other traits that were initially selected during character creation in the Paramaker.

The personality system is built around four categories, with seven points to distribute across them. Each category has a maximum of three points:

By default, each category starts with one point, and players have three additional points to distribute freely. Players can also remove a point from a category to set it to zero, gaining one extra point to place elsewhere. However, a category at zero means the Parafolk will be disadvantaged in that area.

Nightly Reset

Wants operate on a daily cycle. Every night, any unfulfilled Wants reset during the Parafolk's sleep. This means that if a player plans to complete a particular Want, they must do so before their Para goes to bed. Once the Para wakes up, a new set of Wants will be generated based on their emotional state at that time.

This daily reset prevents Wants from stacking up endlessly and keeps the gameplay loop feeling fresh. Each new day brings new opportunities based on how the Para is feeling, encouraging players to adapt their plans to their character's current mood.

Integration with Vibes and Emotions

Wants do not exist in isolation. They are deeply connected to two other personality systems:

• Vibes: Each Parafolk has a baseline Vibe that shapes their overall temperament. The available Vibes are Overjoyed, Gloomy, Energetic, Serious, and Jester. A Para's Vibe influences which types of Wants appear more frequently, creating patterns that align with their personality.

• Emotions: Emotions are dynamic states that change based on what happens during gameplay. They appear as small icons next to the Para's portrait and directly affect interactions, skill learning, work performance, and the Wants that show up during the day.

The interplay between Vibes, emotions, and Wants creates a layered system where a Para's long-term personality (Vibe) and short-term feelings (emotions) both shape the objectives available to them. A Gloomy Para experiencing a rare moment of happiness might receive unusually cheerful Wants, while an Energetic Para having a rough day might see more subdued options.

Goals vs. Wants

In addition to Wants, Parafolk can also pursue Goals, which are larger, longer-term objectives. Both Wants and Goals earn Personality Points when completed, but they differ in scope:

Together, the Wants and Goals systems give players both short-term and long-term direction for their Parafolk's lives, keeping gameplay engaging across individual days and entire lifetimes.