I think most of us know by now that EA is notorious for conveniently leaving content out of the base game and finding every excuse in the book to sell more expansion packs. First, it started with just 7 EPs for the original Sims game. Back then, expansion packs actually added something new to the game. Sims were getting to play guitar, throw parties, go on dates, have pets, go on vacation, become superstars and make magic for the VERY FIRST TIME. They were worthy of being called expansions.

But now we not only have unoriginal expansions, we're also being offered stuff pack items and DLC that should have been in the game to begin with. A simming pool is not "innovative" in the Sims universe. We've had them before. In a base game, no less. There's no need to sell them as DLC. Seasons, pets and dating are not NEW anymore. Why are they still being sold in EPs?

Obviously, we don't know for sure what will happen in the Sims 4. But I've got a feeling we won't be getting our money's worth.

Discuss.

All I can say is: EPs should be packed to the brim with relevant content that actually /does/ something. Yes: chairs are nice. I like chairs. But a lot of the time they're just filler items that have nothing to do with what the EP is about. I don't want packs that add mainly furniture I already have, but in slightly different pixels. That's what SPs are for. I don't want packs that feel unfinished or incoherent. I want EPs that add new gameplay, new possibilities and yes, maybe a couple of chairs and clutter items if they're relevant to the theme. But mainly I just want EPs to increase playability, and a new dining set and some columns aren't going to do that for me. If that means they have to combine a pack like Seasons with something like Generations, for more family fun: so be it.

Yes and no. I understand why they are not including pets or seasons (althrough they should include weather). But the problem I had with the Sims 3 expansions was they lacked in cohesion. They don't work together and they don't add enough gameplay. I really miss the expansions as: Open For Business, Appartment life and Free time. Oh and they should also combine some expansions. Seasons+Vacation as example. As with the Sims 3 Showtime+Late night and Island Paradise+Seasons could be one expansion. Futhermore I want expansions that add new things to the franchise like a Rollercoaster tycoon and Zoo tycoon expansion.

There was a lot a chat (mostly negative) around the time that they introduced SPs to TS2. People said that it was the thin edge of the wedge and that EA would use SPs as a way to cut down on work for the EPs and make more money, and oh, look how that turned out. The anti-pay site argument which convulsed the online community a while back was just getting going around that time too and there was a lot of antagonism towards the idea of paying for extra content outside of an EP. However, EAxis said, and I remember this clearly, that part of the rationale for introducing SPs was because there were a lot of players out there who never came online and couldn't download CC but who would like to have extra content for their games. I think we recognised that as a lie the day we heard it.

To be fair, most of the SPs for TS2 did contain just extra stuff though the last one, M&G, had some gameplay features too and was more of a mini-EP, new game engine and everything. However, towards the end of its life, the store (which started with TS2) did start to have items that really should have been more generally available in an EP (I'm thinking of the castle build set and the baby items and associated interactions in particular). And with the advent of the store, the excuse that they were making additional stuff available to players who never went online was - well, thin. I thought it was already pretty crap then and one of the (several) reasons I gave up with TS3 more or less straightaway was because the store was shaping up to be a right rip off. And so it has proved.

I liked the EP thing with TS1 - it really opened up the game and made a good game into a great one. The use of EPs in TS2 continued that trend and TS2 was also a great game but towards the end of TS2's cycle my feeling anyway is that things started to sour. Apart from not liking the gameplay, there is also something about the monetised atmosphere of TS3 which really makes me feel ill - unpleasant. I'm really hoping they're going to tone it down in TS4 - though I can see it's still going to be with us - though I am not too hopeful which might mean, for me at least, sticking with TS2 in the short term and stopping playing in the long term. It'll be sad. I've played the Sims since the very beginning and there was so much I loved about the first two games. I've stuck around for TS4 mainly because of that and because you can do really interesting things with TS2 but that's not going to keep me going for ever.

Yeah, the baby stuff was straight-up ripped out of Apartment Life and put in the store instead. The animations were coded into the EP, it should've been there from the start. It's ridiculous, and I'm sad it only ever got worse.

I hope we are getting 8 and only 8. It feels like in The Sims 3 they just kept releasing and releasing expansion packs and the game became heavier and heavier to load and the expansion packs did not change the gameplay in a way that The Sims 2 did. I hope they can focus on the additional gameplay that comes with each expansion pack and not just '' more stuff, more clothing and more interactions ''. Just because they release more expansion packs does not mean the game will get any better.

My fear is that that they are going to release more than 11 expansion packs.

Stuff packs are, according to me, nice too. But not the way they we're in The Sims 3.
In The Sims 2 I could really use almost every item that I got in a stuff pack but in The Sims 3 I only liked 10-15 objects and maybe used 3-5 of them, and some of the themes are really horrible. In The Sims 2 they make a lot of scence such as Celebration Stuff, Mansion & Garden, Kitchen & Bath, Ikea, H&M etc. but in The Sims 3 - has anyone ever asked for a Katy Perry stuff pack or a Movie stuff pack (that does not include actual movie stuff, only stereotypical stuff)? It feels like they just picked a random theme, made some objects and then released it, giving no heart and no soul to making the objects. If EA are going to make stuff packs for The Sims 4 they better put some thought and heart into it.

Expansions should include items that make a difference in the sims lives. new traits, careers, life time wishes, interactions, and obviously items that will build on those things. stuff packs should contain the hair, clothing, accessories. The "store" in the sims 3 irks me.... Way too overpriced, and useless. I had some points and went and bought the bistro... which i never use as it's a bore... i wish i would have bought the day care but then would that have even been good? the buying of venues is ridiculous. I will never do that again! And please for geez sakes make these expansions worth the money! I'm finding it to be too expensive! In to the future was the last straw as really it was a waste of money...

Wait this is still subject to speculation? How many more years have to pass before we state firmly "yes, EA isn't going to give us our money's worth".

Lord have mercy...