Well, I've been playing EAxis-made sims and townies, so any common stat distribution is not because of my personal sim preferences.   Is "<one particular favored trait>"  referring to personality?

I assume it goes something like this, but I'm basically talking out my ass now:

Playful - Music & Dance, Arts & Crafts
Serious - Science, Gaming
Neat - Nature
Active - Sports, Fitness

I have no clue about the rest.If we're talking about animals, all bugs are six-legged, because all bugs are insects.

Is it just me or are the enthusiasm levels a bit screwy?  My sims rocket up to level nine and then spend forever trying to make it to level ten.  Because of this, I have sim children who are level 9 at Music & Dance from learning a nursery rhyme and playing with the xylophone.

All of my sims bring home a friend every day.  I haven't seen any NPCs yet, but that's probably because I have at least two sims in each career, or none at all.

Finally; does anyone else have an absurd number of sims preferring one hobby?  About 90% of my sims are interested in nature.