University does have some nice extra objects, and since you said you like building you'll have plenty of fun making your own sims dorms and future greek houses (and editing some already in place). You have more reason to get into your sims lives since it adds another age group, Young Adults. Teens will be able to go straight to college anytime, whether you choose to have them work hard and earn enough scholarships beforehand so they could live on their own on campus or with some locals in one of the dorms. Then once they're in college they'll have more time socializing then ever before. I explained a little in my last post, but I'll say it again that this is the best time to have your sims test the dating pool and exceed their skills.

Pets is an alright expansion on it's own, but you could go longer without installing it. The cats and dogs are cute, but after a while they're kind of just "there" once you train enough of them well. They're interactive, as in you can't fully control them since they do as they please. So you're left to either scold/praise their behavior to train them, but also play, pet and the other stuff like with real life pets. You could also send them to work too but I never since that's not why I would own a pet.

The storytelling possibilities of University are greater than those of Pets.

I'm sorry you have to rule Seasons out, since that and Apartment Life are my favorite expansions.
Anyways, if it's between Pets and University, that's a tough one. Here are just my opinions on the two:
University- I feel like this really adds a lot to the game. College is really fun, but there are a ton of things I dislike about it, which is okay because there are so many mods out there to customize it to your likings. First off, not all of my Sims go to college. If I have two Sims that are the same age, not life stage but born on the same day (everyday their meter's should match both saying 14 Days til Becoming an Adult and so on), and only one of them goes to college I want them to be the same age when the other Sim gets out of college. Teens last for 15 days and I believe Young Adults last for 32 or 24 days, not sure but I know it's longer than Teens. So if it bothers you, you have to figure out a system to keep their ages in sync. But everyone plays differently, so that shouldn't really affect you. College lasts really really long, which is why there are mods where you can shorten the semester, I changed mine to be 2 days per each semester and also got a Harder Grades hack. It's still pretty easy to get on Dean's List but now actually requires dedication. So college can get rather boring and tedious and sometimes you can't wait for it to be over because everyone will get straight A+'s and it takes a while so I suggest you get hacks to customize it. While at college your Sims can stay at a dorm, rental house, or greek house. Dorms are awesome because each Sim gets their own room and which I found out recently multiple Sims can room together! Houses are fun because it's just a normal home with no building limits. I am not fond of sororities or fraternities because I find it annoying to keep getting members and pledges. I'd like to work them more into my college system though. There's also a secret society which your Sim can get abducted into, but it's not really a big deal. But I really enjoy sending my Sims to college because I have a mix of houses and dorms, community lots, Sims can get engaged at this lifestage, WooHoo, and it just gives them more days to their life to do whatever they please, skill a lot more so when they're an adult they get promotions easily or just enjoy being a college kid. It also comes with cool items, my favorite being the Bubble Blower, which my sisters refer to as the Hookah Table, a fun thing in which Sims blow bubbles and get "high" by floating into the air- kind of reminds me of the original Charlie and the Chocolate Factory movie, not the one with Johnny Depp. Everything I disliked about this pack I changed with hacks, except for the annoying cheerleaders and mascots which bug me but I laugh at them because the way they barge in like everyone cares about their little cheer and costume is spot on just like the cheerleaders at my school lol. Also, I was only disappointed because when I got it I thought the new life stage was for everyone, like in Sims 3 where even if you don't go to college you become a young adult, can get married, and have babies. I just thought it'd be nice if they could have kids then because I feel like my adults get too old fast. 30 days isn't long enough as an adult. I wish I could find a mod just to lengthen the number of days as an adult to 40 or 50, but I failed to find one. So anyways, University is definitely a fun one for me with mods. Without mods though, I'd hate it.

Pets: That's really all. Just pets. Not much to it. But you can get cats, small dogs, or large dogs which are fun, you can do a bunch (not really a bunch, but enough for it to be worth it) of things with them. With cats, you can teach them tricks, train them, get them jobs, breed them (kittens and puppies are adorable!), play with them, and if you have Apartment Life and you have a Witch/Warlock with 5 witchcraft skill points or higher, you can summon a Feline Familiar which is a magical companion for your Witch. They have sparkles that follow the cat, the cat never ages, doesn't need a litterbox (it doesn't have a bladder meter), and doesn't have a gender- so you can't breed it. They're cool cats though. With dogs (both large and small) you can teach them tricks, train them, get them jobs, breed them (you can't mix large and small dogs, it has to be two small dogs or two large ones), play with them, and if you have Open For Business you should have someone make a Water Wiggler or buy one at a business because then the dog will wash itself. It's hard for me to wash my dogs sometimes because in a 2x3 bathroom (which most of mine are sized) it has to be set up properly or the dog cant get in the tub. Pets make nice companions for any Sim, you can have a "family pet", raise show pets, or breed them. I really like breeding pets, because the offspring are adorable, you can keep them, sell them for money, or give them away. My Ferry family bought two family pets, two large labradoodles Delilah and Hubert, who they bred three times. The first time they had two puppies, Lenny and Penny. They kept the boy Lenny and one of the daughters, Flora, gave Penny to her boyfriend's (now fiancé's) family. The next time they had one puppy Bruno in which they sold to the Piccolo family because the Piccolo's are wealthy and they're not as close with them. Now that the four Ferry children are at college, Aurora and Philip missed having children so they bred Delilah and Hubert one last time and they had one puppy Minnie which they kept. So I thought it was cute to breed them, but I like variety of different breeds and only breed purebreds so I don't breed them too often so I can have different kinds of dogs and cats. But also, if you're at college you cant have a pet unless you're a witch so then you can summon your Feline Familiar. Instead of having a dog or cat, you can purchase a womrat, bird, or fish from the catalog which are cool to have. If you do get Pets, there's a download here on MTS where you can get lizards, squirrels, and other creatures in your cages. Its really cool!

So if I had to choose between University and Pets, I wouldn't be able to do it. College is fun and awesome, but what big happy family doesn't have a beloved dog cherished enough to be in the family Christmas picture? I know, not everyone has pets, you don't need pets to be happy, and not everyone celebrates Christmas, but when I think of having a family when I'm older I can't picture it without a big goofy loving smart golden retriever in the house. So that being said, I change my mind. I would definitely choose Pets. But if you do get either Uni or Pets, make sure to get the University Life Collection or Fun With Pets Collection because it's still the same price but comes with two extra stuff packs. I ordered both of mine off of Amazon, and both were cheaper than $20 and in perfect condition. Just a tip

Actually you can breed a large dog and a small dog; but if the small dog is the bitch, the offspring will always be small.

Oh thank you! I never knew that. I tried to breed a small dog and large dog before but there wasn't an option so I assumed they couldn't have puppies but now I guess it was only because the relationships weren't good enough.

I'd just like to throw in my two cents for anyone looking for their next EP: I just installed Seasons last night and it is wonderful. I've been playing TS2 on and off since around 2008, and lately only play for about a week at a time every six months because I find it hard to stay interested in the game. (I'm kind of a micromanager, so surprises don't happen often in my game.) However, weather adds a wonderful atmosphere to gameplay, and I love watching my sim curl up with a book during a thunderstorm (while her husband calls the fire station because their treadmill was just struck by lightning...) or splash around in puddles. I haven't gotten through a full rotation of seasons yet, but already this is easily my favorite EP. Nine bucks well spent.

Something is wrong with you.

My opinion:
1.Nightlife
-I love it because you have abillity to become vampire,go to nightclubs,restaurants,go on date..
2.Seasons
-It's awesome,I love weather,my sims are having fun fishing and gardening,plantsims seem like a good people..i mean sims.
3.Apartment Life
-I really like living in apartments.There are lots of sims around you,you can become witch/warlock..
4.Bon Voyage
-Travelling adds so much fun!When I'm bored I always send my sims
on vacation!And I love beach lots :D

From most favorite to the least:
1. Apartment Life - love the possibility to live in apts and witchery is so much fun!
2. Nightlife - I adore the Downtown! My Sims spending a lot of time there, hanging in the night clubs.
3. Seasons - I doubt if I would still play the game without this one at all. It's so great having the weather and season change!
4. Open for Business - many of my Sims are running their own businesses and quite successfull in this. My favorite business is Beauty Salon and also I like the Servos.
5. FreeTime - Hobbies are really adding a lot to the gameplay, IMO.
6. Bon Voyage - I rarely send my Sims to vacation locations, but in a whole I love to have such a possibility. The main thing I like about this EP is jewellery, added to CAS.
7. University - I have it, but don't play it at all.
8. Pets - the same as above.

Favorite EP: Nightlife. I like all the features it adds, like driving cars and going out on dates. I also love the decor that comes with it.
Favorite SP: Mansion and Garden. I like all the beautiful build and buy mode objects it adds.

Least Favorite EP: Seasons. I bought it because I thought the idea of seasons and different weather was pretty interesting. I ended up getting rid of it because weather in the game ended up being more annoying than fun.
Least Favorite SP: Family Fun Stuff. Glad I got it with the Fun With Pets pack because I never would've purchased this separately. I think it's more for people who like to play Sim families a lot.

Here's my list from favorite to least:
Seasons I love that the weather change instead of the occasional raining here and there. I could do so much while filming/taking pictures. It just set the mode for a scene.
Nightlife CARS! I've have downloaded so many cool cars. It just went reflected my sims or their location really well.
Bon Voyage My sims had to call the nanny over plenty of times to get a break from the real world.
Apartment Life I like how I don't have control over every that's literally under one roof. Some reactions could be spontaneous.
Free Time I love that there were more things for the sims to do.
Open For Business My sims could own their own business.
Pets Pets added furry family members to the bunch. They were cool.
University I found it difficult to film especially with the limited time. It was alright.
Stuff Packs Um...they were cute for extra decorations, especially the Christmas stuff pack

I've only got 3 expansions, but I'll rate them anyway!
Seasons: seasons is my most recent expansion, and I have to say it's the best so far. I love the seasons so much! It gives me a sense of real life to the game. I also love looking for the little penguins that come by my house. Another thing I enjoyed was that in the pool you can now see their shadows. It's just a small thing, but I like it. And don't even get me started about the leftovers. My sims shall never waste food again!
Pets: Even though I've seen a lot of people give it negative reviews, I wouldn't enjoy my game as much without pets. I bought it with my original game and I really love it. Maybe it's just because I'm an animal person, but single sims are just boring without pets.
Nightlife I got nightlife in double deluxe, which came with the base game, nightlife, and celebration stuff. I don't hate it, but I don't love it either. The only thing I really like about it is the dating system. Some other elements of it are just plain annoying. I absolutely cannot stand the gypsy matchmaker. You pay 5,000 simoleans and hope to get the man of your dreams. Instead, you get an old man who's rich. It's great that he's rich, but not so great that he's old. Waste of simoleans, if you ask me.

I've been debating on the next expansion to get. I'm trying to decide between Bon Voyage, Apartment Life, and University. What do you guys recommend if you're choosing between those?

Read back through the thread a bit and find out what excites you. It varies so much by playstyle, and we don't know anything about yours.

I love University because it slows the pace right down for me and I can play big households full of students, making connections, working out storylines, setting up storylines, doing epic love dramas, etc. A lot of people are bored by it, though, and if you're primarily a legacy player I can see that. (All that sticking to one family would drive me bonkers.) Bon Voyage allows beach lots and swimming in oceans - but the beach lots are finicky and can be hard to run, and certain new elements, like the dances and local gestures, spread virally throughout the hood and drive many people crazy. Apartment Life adds apartments, a reputation system, witches, and some of the cutest animations in the franchise - but a lot of people find the reputations pointless, the apartments glitch easily, and many were disappointed by the magic system.

Open for Business with a bullet.
I really only use Apartment Life for the ceilings (no M&G, but I hope to get a replacement one day) and Nightlife is great for the dating options.

I just started actually playing with my sims and I have to say Seasons is a great players EP.

My perfect AGS is Base/Uni/OFB/Seasons and AL + IKEA. If only building I leave Seasons out.

Apartment Life fo' sure. Even the classical dance alone makes me go squee.

For some reason I think Uni makes me go *sigh* because to me I think it's too slow. And plus the ugly dormies makes it even worse. I just can't interact with those big mouthed, wide eyed things. The only things I send my sim to Uni for is the extra wants and fears and locks.

University is kind of a must-have, (with mods that makes the time there shorter). New careers, lots of new objects and college is pretty fun!
Nightlife, oh my, a must-have too! (Well, almost every EP for The Sims 2 are must-haves). Cars! A new city that you can attach to any neighborhood and vampires and all of that! One of the best EP's.
OFB is fun, but don't expect too much of it. I still really like it although it feels like something is missing in the EP - strongly recommended though.
Pets - eh, if you can get this EP for a REALLY good price then get it otherwise - meh. (But careers for the pets are funny!)
Seasons - you haven't played The Sims 2 if you haven't played Seasons, I can't play without Seasons like omg. 10/10
Bon Voyage - A critizised EP but still one of my favorites, gives some nice change to your families.
Freetime - An EP with lots of great new content and all of that! It feels fresh and new in some way. BEWARE: Lots of ugly clothing you'll never give your sims and oh, you just made some breakfast? Your hobby is now food!
Apartment Life - I love love love this EP, a new city that gives you a great feeling. Apartments are technically just houses, duh. But still! Lots of new great stuff and some of the clothing are great!

Best to worst:
Seasons
Nightlife
Apartment Life
Bon Voyage
OFB
University
Freetime
Pets

I was uncertain whether to post here or to resurrect ZenGarden's I have always wondered thread from April / May 2013. Back then I was very undecided about trying to get further EPs. After some consideration though I've decided for the moment just to continue with what I've got, i.e. Double Deluxe (That is base game plus Nightlife and the Celebration stuff pack). The two EP's that attract me most are Open for Business and Pets, OFB because I would really like my Sims to be able to run their own businesses, and Pets because they've always been a big part of my Real Life.

The trouble for me with EPs is that they all come with things I want and with things I don't want. I'm definitely not into supernaturals, and every EP comes with another supernatural. I have successfully kept vampires and aliens out of my game so far, and have almost excluded ghosts. If I do get Pets, I don't know how easy it is to keep werewolves out too. I don't feel so bad about servos: I take that they're some kind of intelligent robots, and I suspect we shall have them in real life before too long. However I did read about someone getting electrocuted by a malfunctioning servo the other day, and I really don't want anything else that might kill my Sims, so I'd have to start looking for mods just to mod out the behaviour that the EP has introduced! (I like happy living Sims!) So I really have to ask myself, "Is it worth it?"

At the moment, compared with some of the things I read here, my game is quite stable and glitch-free. By and large I have the right versions of mods for my game configuration, and I don't know how long it might take me to find the right versions for a different configuration. Despite me having the Store Edition game engine of ill repute, my game is running well. So I think I'll just continue with what I've got, and expand my game slowly by adding CC. CC, unlike EPs, costs nothing and I get the things I want one at a time, and not bundled with a lot of things I'd rather not have!

One thing I've always thought the developers did really well was to make it possible for players who don't like the supernaturals to avoid them fairly easily. TJ's Visitor Controller makes it even easier, of course, by allowing players to ban certain sims/types of sims from ever appearing at all.

As to werewolves, particularly, they're hard to get when you want them. So you certainly don't need to worry about a sim being turned into one against your wishes. Even if you didn't play with free will off all the time, it's so unlikely a sim would spontaneously befriend the Leader of the Pack (and thus be eligible for the Be Nibbled interaction) as to be virtually impossible. And again, with the VC, you can ban the LoTP outright anyway.

In other words, get Pets. You'll like it.

eta: I like the supernaturals, in general, but Servos are not worth having, imo. Fortunately, they're probably the easiest "creatures" to avoid, because the creation of one has to be player-directed. Sims cannot autonomously make one, so you never ever have to even see one, if you don't want to.

In other words, get OFB too. You'll like it.

Everything you don't want, Andy, somebody else who could mod didn't want, either. Get them all when you can get them cheap, and install them one at a time as you get comfortable. When you find you don't want something, find the mod that gets rid of it.

I've been playing this game for three years now. I just got my first witch after working hard at it; I've never had a playable vampire or werewolf; I've never seen a zombie or a servo; I've never been in any danger of getting any of them. I didn't think I'd like running businesses, but I do.

And your Andrew and Gloria need pets! I'm certain of it!

I think you should worry less, but that's just my opinion. I don't understand the whole traumatized by something happening that can be undone by not saving, but to each their own. As Peni pointed out, supernaturals are not hard to keep at bay. I've never even seen a vampire in my game, and I had NL for years with no mods to keep them out. Servos don't exist unless you make them (takes forever to get gold badge, and forever to make one) so they are not going to attack you out of nowhere.

If you are worried about updating your mods, you could get AL (and preferably M&G) just to update mods to last EP and not have to worry about it when you add new games. I think all of them are worth having, and none of them are going to randomly assassinate your Sims as you seem to think they will.

I don't like supernaturals, I never had one, and I've not modded against them obsessively. The only ones I ever come across are witches, and you won't be turned into one against your will, and you can ban them if you want to, as Darby pointed out.

You can get the "Visitor Controller" from Simbology and do away with any and all types, vampires, aliens, whitches, married Sims, teens, child or any Sim in the game. The best thing about it is you get to chose who what where and when with this mod.
http://www.simbology.com/smf/index.php?topic=17.0

For me this is at the top of my must have mods.

Seasons, apartment life, bon voyage, and freetime are my all time fav expansions for sims2 I like them all but those are the ones that really added fun for me. I dont really care about pets. I think the sims 3 world adventures is as good as bon voyage but thats my opinion. Its more stuff to do but not as fun.

I now have all but one of the EPs (but only one SP) so here's my ranking of the seven EPs I have:

- Nightlife. Perhaps it's just because it's the first EP I got, or perhaps it's because I have a real thing for the vampires and cars and Downtown neighbourhood that comes with the game, but either way I love it. I'm not big on dating or the matchmaker, though.
- Apartment Life. I got it a few days ago and only installed it last night but it's incredibly good. I'd say even better than Nightlife but I haven't played it enough to know for sure, you know?
- University. While I hate the actual universities for taking forever to get through (the furthest I've ever got without using cheats is to junior year) the instruments and haircuts are great, and I kind of inexplicably like the young adult stage, though think it's a bit stupid there's no middle aged stage - a middle aged stage would make much more sense than young adult. And zombies are wonderful creatures.
- Freetime. I only got it a week or two ago but it's reignited my interest in the sims. I like having my sims participate in different activities together that previously couldn't be done, like basketball and soccer, as well as the hobbies.
- Open For Business. I probably like it just as much as Freetime. My sole reason for getting the game was for the Servos but the items that came with like the toy-making and robot-crafting stations made it for me - as well as the new wave music! Hearing Depeche Mode and Kajagoogoo rerecord their hits in Simlish is quite amusing.
- Pets.The pets are cute for a little while but are generally annoying, and it irritates me there aren't other small animals like hamsters, and that there are so few available things to do with the womrats and parrots. However annoying the actual pets are though, I think the werewolves redeem the game somewhat.
- Seasons. The only reason I installed it was for the careers and some of the items. The seasons are more of a pain than they are fun, there's nothing at all to like about the addition of temperature, and perhaps worst of all is the plantsims - by far the worst of the supernaturals imo.

NightLife, without doubt. It excels in most categories, even to the point of being too good for the series. NightLife's features could be seen in most game scenarios, without visiting a specific remote area (college or vacation). Most content was detailed, life-like and practical.

Cars and improved lot switching allows to closer integrate a neighborhood and more frequently extend play beyond the current lot. Compared to taxis, cars allowed sims and the player controlling them to feel in charge, unlike all the instances when he must wait for a script from a higher authority to push him around (carpool, taxi, vacation taxi/plane). Cars were almost non-simmy.

The best and most detailed neighborhood of all in my opinion. All community lots were different from one another. Precise construction elements have been used like sunken floors, most lots are well lit and some sport a perfect environment score. Even the more colorful lots seem realistic, unlike OFB fairy tale themed ones.

The highest number of custom sims. Many of them have custom faces, rather than copies of a template, only wasting memory. The Downtown introduction invites to meet these new people, which is truly possible. This category is important.

Practical clothing including unlocking of some teen outfits for adults, which allow teens to continue their lives. Most other EP clothing was impractical and ridiculous.

Well designed, practical and affordable residential housing, much better than those of previous game versions. The residential lots had clear borders and seemed finished.

I've been with all expansion packs for a while and can no longer tell which object came with NL. But I think it also introduced a number of brown/wooden furnishings and fences, not what you'd expect to find in a city. I could be wrong about this. These again can be used both in the well build residential homes, or in an upper class hood.

Dating, which was well guided with restaurants, which is the best and most organic method of eating out, beating the ubiquitos hot dog grill. I just can't court a mate or earn aspiration in college before the road to Downtown becomes repaired again.

Many, again practical, NPCs, which were always present Downtown, and filled it with life.

Few annoyances. Vampyres can be avoided, but it wasn't explained that they must not be allowed to bite, or the hood would turn to the usual random, unscripted chaos. Vampyres are completely avoidable unlike plantsims, lightning or wolf dogs digging holes.

Other expansion packs sorted by decreasing value: FreeTime, University, Voyage, Pets.

My biggest gripe with Seasons is that it doesn't fit into the sims model, which allows for many activities and delicate machinery to exist under an open sky, and its home design, where heating is not modelled, where occasionally walls do not fully enclose indoor space, and where routing and find best object () does not account for precipitation and the possibility of it.

Pets receives special points from me ranking higher than Seasons only because it had cute cats! Cats are the secret overlords, but I'm glad that Eaxis didn't approach this idea for the team would have made it ridiculous. Pets at times semed forced to the player, and weren't well integrated into the neighborhood. When a pet was on screen, it had the focus and showed everything it could do in a short period of time. I felt that I must have a pet house or a pet comm-lot or avoid them. The pet characters underutilized the potential of their modelling engine. As far as I understand, the entire pet body could be adjusted, unlike humans, but few or none or the premade pets had custom bodies. In this aspect Pets were the complete opposite of NL. The wolves all looked the same and were all too common. Kobe the cat receives a 10 out of 10 ofc.

I would have all expansion packs at all times, because even OFB unlocked some interactons, and others brought at least a few usable objects. The biggest disadvantage of having an expansion pack would be the catalogue cluttered with ugly items. Some expansion features broke the game, but it happened infrequently, (santa cookies being baked out of place, vacation greetings being performed in the city, hobbyists walking in a private home out of nowhere). Those could be modded out.

I haven't played Apartments long enough to rate it. Its few people didn't have as smooth faces as downtownies, and witches were a cheap rip-off Harry Potter with humour driven to 11 as usual. I can't rate the home design, and uncontrollable NPC roomies, well, is not my approach to play. Disappointingly, the pack didn't include a Universal Rentable Lot to model hotels, dormitories and apartments to allow more flexible designs (say, expensive dormitory with hotel doors). Some essential construction elements were added, to ease object alignment. Apartments broke portait generation, forbidding a sim to have a specific portrait and causing performance issues. Unless a major problem is discovered, I would rate AL together with University among the decent lesser value packs.

All stuff packs are a rip off. On a separate scale, the best SPs are Kitchen and Baths, which brought more variety to the common refrigerators and toilets and realistic, practical and expensive (at the same time) kitchen counters, and IKEA for more spartan designs, fitting cheaper lots, which must exist for variety and contrast.

Believe it or not, I almost agree. That's why I'm working on a little project, but I'm not telling anybody what it is and am not releasing it (note: not the big boss)