I prefer sims 2. There are alot of things in sims 3 that are great, but theres alot of stuff missing. Its all so different. Plus i had to install the sims 3 on my dads computer in the living room, which makes it awkward to play because he doesn't like me playing it while he's there :/. And i carn't get CC to work in the sims 3. Its just not showing up at all and ive tryed everything...so that kind of puts me of. The sims 2 just seems easier and more fun to me. I do like sims 3 but 2 will always be top of my list.

Wow, 45 min loading time would make me pretty crazy. I usually end up unloading and reloading my game 2 or 3 times in a given session, to tweak custom content or otherwise edit stuff outside of the game.

To get mildly back on-topic, I'm still really enjoying this phase of TS2 in my life. Like a lot of people, I think, I go in on-again, off-again spurts. This time, however, my theme neighborhood is one of the biggest projects I've taken on in the game, and there's always something to do or further customize, so it's kept my attention longer than usual.

I still watch the TS3 threads and articles, and nothing is making me want to reinstall it--especially not the new expansion pack, which frankly sounds terrible.

I'll stick to TS3, if only for the Create-A-Style Tool. I don't think I'd be able to live without it. No more downloading 30 recolors of one item just to get a room to match. I can now have it look exactly the way I want

The traits system, open neighborhood, and choice of shoes and accessories is a nice addition too

I only just got Sims 3 a few days ago, as I was waiting to both have the money for it AND get a new computer that can handle it.

So far I can't really enjoy the game because I *hate* the camera. It slides by too fast and I can't focus on one specific thing or angle I'd like to take a picture of. I don't know if the wonky way the sims look will grow on me, I guess only time will tell. And I'm frustrated by lack of custom content (although I realize it'll be a few years before we have a satisfying stock of that like we did with Sims 2).

For now, I'm mostly sticking with Sims 2. It's what I know, it does what I want and there's years worth of stuff to download for it

hmmmmmmmmmmmmm....i play only TS3 at the moment...But i know how you guys feel...
Specially in the beginning i could not stand all the limited content and biulding options...also hobbies etc. but was anyway playing sims 3 to see what it has....
After that, really disappointed, i wanted to go back to my TS2....welcome CC, welcome all my gorgeous Sims---but nope, it wasn't possible....It seemed now to repetetive to me, no traits, no nothing...

I'm playing TS3 now...and like to digg for new CC, that comes out each day, surch the forums for new amazing pictures of facial expressions or new skins...and specailly have this small surprises each time i play!!!

Also nice: the stuff i want to have, the houses i want to live in, the make up i want to wear do not exist at the moment in TS3, so i am forced to create something amazing by myself! Challanging as hell!

I like The Sims 2 Better Because it has WAY MORE SIM CREATION STUFF.... i like the view better, Neighborhoods, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, YOU HAVE UNLIMITED SAVED GAMES!!! While TS3 Only gives you 4 OR 5!

Oh and Instead of TS3, Maxis Could have made a EP that Would have given TS2 the Abilities of TS3! That Would be AWSOME!

I love TS2 much more than TS3. Especially since TS3 started to crash unsystematically every single time I try playing it. The only thing that was improved is Painting. The open village becomes boring after a couple of weeks as there is nothing to do in it. The same goes to the "almighty" CAS. TS3 is playable, but is not even half as great as TS2.

Since it's been a few weeks since I've said this: I'd pay the $50 just to get Create-A-Style into TS2, because that's the *only* thing I found myself missing when I uninstalled TS3.

Won't happen, but I would.

I currently have 6 saves in my TS3, so I'm not sure you know what you're talking about

Yup. Out of the various reasons to dislike TS3, the 'limited saves' thing is just a misunderstanding.

I,ve been playing sims2 again and what I noticed now is that simmies here are so much more energetic and happy.Kids in sims 3 always look so serious ( and they look alike ).When they own a coffee-maker,they can have coffee together and chat,they dance better and have more fun doing so-the making out on the couch is a lot of fun to watch-you actually see them get into their cars....There is just so much going on in sim's lives ( even without a lot of cc).I don't see myself going back to sims3 with it's crappy gameplay.I've been playing Sims since 2001 and never got bored with it,but Sims 3 is in its gameplay very disappointing to me.Now,I've been downloading again and found a lot of cc that's even more gorgeous than the ones I used to have.I can create my own neighbourhood again and have have great-looking Simmies.With Sims 3 I used so many hacks to make the game somewhat enjoyable as in Sims 2 I never had to use any....No,I'm fed up with Sims3

I've hardly played TS2 since I got TS3, but Im missing it terribly. While some things in TS3 are really great, like CAST and the traits, the sims themselves... I just dislike them. I don't get attatched to the Sims 3 sims like I did in TS2. I want the features of TS3 and the look of TS2.
If only Will Wright had been involved in TS3, maybe it wouldnt have lost the magic...

I'd love to see him return to the Sims and/or SimCity franchises--I might even give EA more of my money at that point. But I get the sense he's really moved on and I somehow doubt he's hurting for cash.

i dunno, i did enjoy the sims 3.
but i do like sims 2 better - not for all the CC and expansions, becasue my comp was so rubbish i could only just about play with the base game alone.
the seamless naibourhood is awsome and the whole create-a-style-mix-your-own-colour thing is epic, but to be honest, not much else is, and 2 things is not enough to make a great game...
i think the toddlers and children all look too much aline no matter what there parents genes are and there REALLY ugly. and i hate the baby swaddle!! atleast the kids in sims 2 were cute!

so, yeah, i think the base game of sims 2 alone is better than sims 3.

i like the gameplay of sims2 and the shape of people and stuff but i like the graphics on sims3 so i they did sims2 with sims3 graphics that would be good otherwise i prefer sims 2 to sims 3

Sims 3 distributes the idea that it might be slightly more enjoyable, but only for the few things it adds. Sim design? A few steps backward. Customization of your sims and furniture? A few steps forward. Release of a vacation EP first? A couple hundred steps back (Has EA learned nothing?) Seamless neighborhoods may seem attractive, as does story mode (in it's own way) but I've heard that the 1 am freezes where the babies are adopted, had, etc are close to unbearable.

I always enjoy reading topics like these, reading other people's viewpoints. I'm still playing both. I'm playing Sims2 for enjoyment and go into Sims3 just to wrap up a couple of characters and put them in limbo until the next EP comes out. Basically I'm marrying off 2 girls my daughter and I have been playing because frankly we ran out of things for them to do. Autumn has built up her gardening, fishing and cooking skills so she's marrying a male roommate who's working on his gardening skills. They'll settle down on a farm and I'll turn Story Progression loose on them and see what happens. I gave them a couple of cribs so I won't see babies on the floor when I visit with another character. Emma reached the top of the career ladder and is boring me and my daughter to tears now. There's nothing left to do with her but marry her off to another male roommate who is a successful author. Let them have larva, let them raise their teenaged roommate. Whatever. Yawn. zzzzzzz.

In contrast, Sims2 I've got a whole town of characters I can easily control at any time without any cumbersome worries about losing inventories when I switch houses. I've got good witches, evil witches, farmers, celebrities (living non-celebrity lives but at least they have swanky clubs to hang out in). I have businesses to try my hand at running, and pets to train. And all this in a beautiful setting that I completely control. I can change it to suit any whim. I can easily build an entirely different looking town with a different topography and feel.

My Sims2 game is complete. I will be playing and exploring all the facets of Sims2 for a long time to come. And best of all, it's all paid for.

The thing that worries me about Sims3 is that it took about $40 worth of additional purchases from the EA Store (thanks to gift cards I got for my birthday) to flesh out the build and buy objects and wardrobe to make the game feel less constrained. That is a hell of a lot of money on top of the base game purchase to buy a really incomplete, claustrophobic game play experience.

I keep hearing how it's not fair to compare this to the fully fleshed out Sims2 experience, but really, you'd think with the next generation game we would not have had to go all the way back to square one. We lost half-walls, spiral stairs--really very basic build objects. We also lost swimmable oceans. We lost so many items that made public venues enjoyable and realistic--like bowling alleys, pool tables, to name a couple.

When I've taken a Sims3 sim into a park to take advantage of what little is there, I've found just odd inexplicable behavior, like townies throwing newly grilled food onto the ground and walking off. What the heck is THAT about? I don't know if it's a bug but it's happened several times to me and I've had to have my sim clean up the mess. And we've already talked elsewhere about the horrid issue with abandoned babies littering the landscape. Going to visit a neighbor was supposed to be fun but when you go visit one of your own created sims and see an unexpected larva baby dropped unceremoniously on the ground, and realize what a huge pain in the tail it would be to switch households just to give that family a crib and baby accessories...you really want to run screaming from the game. And I do.

At this point I play Sims3 because I feel obliged to. After getting gift cards for my birthday I don't want my family or I to feel they wasted their money so I play. I'm setting up some characters to be ready to go on World Adventure...eventually. It is too expensive and I don't think I'll get it very soon after it comes out.

EDIT: I forgot to mention I have come to appreciate the way Sims3 sims look. I actually prefer the look of Sims3 sims only because the townies and my own created sims are not so different as to look like completely different species. Since I don't use default replacement skintones in Sims2, it is jarring to see townies interacting with my own custom characters. THAT is something in Sims2 I'm not liking. But at least it's fixable, if I'd make the effort at some point.

I think all the different faces and whatnot in TS2 is part of the appeal, for me. (It seems as though a lot of TS3 sims I have seen are very similar...not identical, but eerily similar.)

Granted, I didn't enjoy when my sims fell for terrible looking townies, and then produced such ugly offspring that I deleted them. But that was part of the mystery. You never really knew what kind of sim you would get.

I get so attached to my Sims. I have to refrain from taking pictures of every moment of their life as to not blow up my computer. In Sims3 not only do I have to leave behind all my CC and Sims, but its just plain... Whats the word? I don't know, annoying? It seems like every bit of CC has an extra sense of danger. Because of how complicated creating and using CC can be it just makes me want to stay away from it. My Sim picture addiction is even worse on Sims3 because they don't have memories. I cannot play more than one family on a neighborhood either, as I don't want to miss my Sims life. I enjoy "babysitting, or parenting" my Sims way more than being "god".

In a way you are "God" to your Sims in Sims3. Your job is to keep them happy. They ask for something and if you don't give it to them they freak out. "Parenting" your Sims gives you great opportunities to "raise" your Sims. In the Sims3 your Sims think for them self way to much. (What if they run away? Wait they can...)

I don't know this is a great place to rant. I need to get this out >_< My family has no clue what I am talking about when I do get on a role about this. I don't even know if what I said makes any since. I am not going back over it that's for sure >_< :P

The open neighborhood was awesome when I first installed Sims3. However, now that I just recently got the chance to reinstall Sims2 onto my new laptop it does not seem all that awesome anymore. Sims2 runs quite smoothly on my new laptop even with my 795MB of downloads. That's quiet small for me, as I have just gotten the game running. However that would have slowed the game down quite miserably on my older computer.

Yes, I very much like it better than 3.

See, this particular argument annoys me in a few significant ways. (I mean the 'you must compare base game to base game' argument, not your post.)

1) It implies that we (anyone who doesn't like Sims 3) lack critical thinking skills.

2) The average member of the buying public doesn't care about "fair". All they know is it's a newer, shinier installation of their favorite series. They expect a better game. Now, not five years from now.

This is like when newer MMOs have rough launches. Which most of them do. Server problems and whatever. There are always people who will post "well, World of Warcraft had major problems at launch too!". It doesn't matter--people are going to compare new MMOs to the way World of Warcraft is NOW, not to the way it was at launch--five years ago.

3) Ignoring the above, if I do perform the mental exercise of being sure I'm only comparing base game sims 3 to base game sims 2, there are still many places we're not only 'back to square one', we've stepped off the board entirely. Particularly with regards to relationships and storytelling elements. (Memories, special event cutscenes, social interactions, etc.)

4) Expansion packs won't cure ugly.

No, Expansion Packs won't cure ugly, that's for sure. I'm kind of worried, actually, that after spending the $50 or whatever on the new EP, I'll find out that my sim still won't be able to swim in the ocean and sunbathe or generally make the beach experience feel like a real beach experience. The Sims3 beaches and rivers are gorgeous. But taking a sim there is a very sterile experience--there's no digging for beach glass or shells. No building of sand castles. It's such a shame because it's a very serene realistic setting in Sims3. Don't get me wrong, I so appreciate being able to fish in any body of water in Sims3. I just question why we had to LOSE other interactions with the water that we were used to having.

It's so funny, my daugther was born in 2004, and is a month away from her 5th birthday. She's literally grown up watching me play and make CC for sims, so she's come to know the family-friendly aspects of Sims2 and now Sims3 fairly well. I asked her to compare the two games for me and tell me which one she liked better.

"Well mama, the load screens (of S2) are a bummer. And I like having Hello Kitty everything in Sims3, but Sims2 is much more fun and I like my restaurant (the one I custom built for her). The kitties are too funny." (She'd just watched some stray cats who followed my witches into the community rec center destroy the seats at my bowling alley.)

She also likes the cooking contests and has commented on the odd rabbit holes in Sims3. She says "What are we waiting for, mama?" Indeed!

Sometimes the rabbit holes are a useful device to occupy one sim while managing others. But if you are trying to play one sim, it's as bad as a load screen, even if you speed the game up.

And that's another thing--Sims2 was a more laid back experience even when managing a large household. If you took one Sim away to go into town to experience fully everything that town offers, you could be assured of coming back home to find your other sims unchanged in status and you don't feel compelled to check in on them every few seconds to see if you've missed something.

In Sims3 I feel like I'm really juggling. If I take my Autumn out to fish, Emma will still be active somewhere else experiencing things I definitely would want to see. Or I'd have to jump back and micro-manage her, even on full free will, to make sure I come back home to a Sim that's not got her needs crashed or has incurred some other disaster. I suppose some people would find that more realistic and prefer that to the way time stands still for non-active sims in Sims2. I just find it less stressful.

Gwynne, I am totally with you on missing the event cut scenes. So many of life's big moments are now so bland without them. I feel so much like I'm playing a souped up version of Sims1. In fact I would have thought Sims3 seems more to follow Sims1, and Sims2 is the more advanced version.

I don't want anyone to think I'm mercilessly bashing Sims3 and that I'll never play it or enjoy it on its own merits. I will. It's just that the longer I've been playing it, the more it hits me about what's inexplicably absent or glitchy about it.

I never uninstalled Sims 2, fully expecting to play both games. However, I've been playing nothing but Sims 2 after having started building a new custom hood. I've tried to go back to Sims 3, but every time I load it up, I find myself thinking, "meh."

I enjoyed parts of Sims 3. I really love CAST and build mode. The neighborhood scenery is breath-taking and the ability to roam around the entire neighborhood without hitting a loading screen is fun as well. However, that sums up the upgrades from Sims 2 and its all downhill from there, at least for me.

Going back to Sims 2 is a huge relief and so much more fun! I giggle insanely when my sims do the silly things they do. I am delighted by my sims' interactions with one another all on their own and without any prompting from me. I love how the papergirl/boy or the mailmen/women will greet my sims every morning and how my sim kids will hug and kiss their parents when they return from work. I love how my sims tuck their kids into bed, and how sim couples will go off and cuddle or dance together. I love the memories and true genetics. Oh yeah, and I love the hot tub!

I've read about the upcoming EP for Sims 3 and I am not impressed. It sounds as if there will be more quests, and this time, you must do them if you want to take part in the new content. I won't be buying it, and while I might keep Sims 3 on my system, I don't see myself playing much unless I hear of huge improvements in subsequent EPs.

I, personally, still prefer The Sims 2.

I was very excited about The Sims 3, and I pre-ordered the collector's edition. It cost me about $70. Was it worth it? I don't think so. I feel like I wasted my money, to be honest.

I like the new social features, like the traits (insane is my favourite), but... not much else. Sure, wow, you can run around town! I don't really care anymore. I prefer the loading screens and having the locations based on only the locations. I don't know why, but I do.

But the big thing (the big shallow thing) is the looks of the Sims. They're all the fugliest things I've ever seen. They all have the same face, and if they don't, they just look awful. The hair is also the worst - the only decent hair is in the store, and you've got to pay for that. It's like some big money scam. I'm unimpressed.
I'm a sucker for dress up games, and I like to think that I know what's good. Yay, you can colour the clothes any colour you want! Too bad there are only about 2 okay looking pieces of clothing. It really angers me. One of my favourite parts of the game is creating Sims, and TS3 does not even come close to my expectations.

Maybe once some true custom content comes out - oh wait. All the Sims are ugly no matter what they wear.

I'm probably not going to play TS3 at all. I really really was not happy with my purchase. Seeing as TS2 already has loads of CC, and the Sims weren't absolutely ugly without any CC, TS2 is still my favourite.

TS3 didn't offer much more than TS2. It basically uglified the Sims and made me get my hopes up. I'll only be playing TS2 from now on, and maybe TS1. I prefer them both over 3.