I agree with everything the OC said: I love TS3's seamless neighborhood. But I like TS2's gameplay in general.

Here's my love & hate about TS3:

Love:
Placing the driveway everywhere you want...
Pikes as an alternative mode of transport...
Branches in some of the careers...
Traits..
Work performance bars actually change in motion(easier to predict a promotion)...
Options at work & school...
Young adult life stage...
Slider tabs for choosing ANY color & textures for anything!
More skin color options...
More clothing options...
Individual sims sleeping in their "own" beds.. (no kids sleeping in parent's beds)

Hate:
Speed at 3X is slower than TS2...
Car doors don't open/close... (and what's with all the spawning?!)..
Cranky & slow..
Music goes mute after you play for a while..
Can't place empty lots
Can't build custom neighborhoods
Can't start ANY businesses'
Can't have custom TV shows/video clips
Can't create apartments(at least with tenants+landlord/landlady)
Can't create custom hair

That's about it...

I played Sims 3 for about one year, base game + WA, and I really enjoyed certain aspects of the game, especially the gardening/cooking combination. It's the only thing that I wish was possible in its predecessor, but by no means enough reason for me to abandon Sims 2.

At the same time I missed certain Sims 2 features, like wants AND fears, dearly. But there were also the small details that I only knew I'd been missing when I re-installed Sims 2 and played it again, for instance my sim turning to me with the "Are you kidding me?" gesture when directed at something that s/he doesn't like, the worrying when their aspiration is low or the personality-related reactions.

The first time I'd created a TS2 household after the reinstallation and entered the lot I thought "Whoa, the micro-management is much more difficult!", but I wouldn't want it any other way.

The worst deficit of the TS3 AI became most obvious when I played my all-time favourite Sims 2 challenge in the Sims 3: The Asylum. It was a major disappointment. They were all so...stoic, as if they were actually heavily medicated? No poking, no fires, nothing but idle animations and routing issues. And reading books, excessively.
(Whereas in the Sims 2, I usually alternate between pulling my hair out and laughing until I cry.)

tl:dr: No, it didn't.

I wish they had not called it Sims 3 and had the insight to know that those looking for downloads of custom content would not be able to find it because google search. I wish The Sims 3 had been given a different title so could easily be found all info on it with google search. And Sims 4 is going to make it even harder is sad.

But what title could they have called it? I do not know.

I am tired of the doll house game repeatedly. Should have ended with TS2 and they should have done not doll house but farms or city life or beach life or underwater mermaid land. So tired of doll house humans but no one is creative anymore.

All who have power and money and educated science decide for everyone what we do and they seem to me to be the stupid ones. Why can't everyone be smart / rich / creative as everyone else and we make our own stuff not wait on corporations? Our own games. Our own electricity. Our own cars. We are to dependent on corporation and education schools is not helping it is making it worse. Anyone comes along and says, "I fix it," will be a selfish liar trying to control us all cannot trust. How will this change without accident bringing another Hitler in?

The government is no longer govern but corporation. And corporation is no longer corporation is now our government. This is bad.

Honestly, TS2 has ruined TS3 for me. Every time I try to play TS3 for more than one day every couple of weeks, I run with open arms back to TS2.

What the everloving heck are you on about? Our own electricity? I think maybe you could use some of that science education you seem to resent.

With 16 solar panels on our roof we are making quite a bit of our electricity, and hopefully will get a check back. Won't that be nice. But I don't really know how making your own electricity and cars (??) is relevant to this topic. I guess if you have the money and know how to put a car together yourself more power to you.