#and this is the only mediterranean world ea bothered to give us

[wolfavens]

wip of niamh & marco's tartosa forever home

[murfeelee]

Ranking ALL the Sims 3 Expansion Packs - tonitalks

WOW, Tonitalks and I have a lot of similar ideas about the TS3 EPs! ❤️

It’s like, on one hand, every TS3 EP is amazing (especially when compared to the pittance being sold in TS4′s EPs). But on the other hand, EA really dropped the ball in areas where it should have really gone further to expand core gameplay. Even the best EPs had glaring flaws, and tend to fall short of things TS1/TS2 did better. But on the whole, what we got was just enough to keep the TS3 fandom alive even 11 years later. Bless.

MY THOUGHTS (under the cut):

(Unless Tumblr’s flagged it, I could’ve sworn I made an updated Best/Worst post ranking all the TS3 EPs. But the only one still on my blog is my old one I made before I bought all the EPs, though it mostly still aligns with how I feel.)

Toni S A B C D F ranking system is mostly based on which packs have the most content and varied things things to do. Toni’s S A B ranks are her must-owns, while the C D F ranks are her most disappointing games.

S: Generations, Supernatural

Toni’s only complaint about GEN is the Imaginary Friends lifestate, which: same. Frikkin creepy. But the rest of GEN is a MUST-OWN for kids & elders.

And finally! A reviewer giving Supernatural the respect it DESERVES! ^0^ SN was stuffed to the brim; SO much content! Granted, it’s no Makin Magic, and I personally was underwhelmed by Moonlit Falls, as I like Midnight Hollow and Dragon Valley WAY more, but SN is still my favorite TS3 EP, regardless. Anyone who loves the “weird, wonderful and magic“ side of The Sims NEEDS SN. 💯💯💯 (Just make sure to mod the Zombies out or adjust your lifestate settings; whatever works to get rid of them.)

A: Seasons, University

Seasons is an excellent pack--Toni wanted a new world, which: same, but there’s just an ungodly amount of new content in SSNS, it’s the best and most well-made TS3 EP, period. 

To this day I’ve NEVER sent my sims to UNI. I hate school IRL, so unless my sims are going to effing Hogwarts I have no desire to ever bother with the school crap. Toni doesn’t like the 3 social groups, but I actually LOVE them. Almost all of my sims are either Rebels or Nerds. Crazy enough, I love the amount of new content UNI added, I just never use it for my sims’ schooling. I love the radio station, weather machine, whiteboard, skeleton set, etc etc.

B: World Adventures, Pets

For Toni, the main complaint for WA is basically the repetitiveness of the tombs, and their lack of replayability. Yes, technically this is true, as WA veers dangerously close to where TS4 went wrong with all the storyline GPs, as if they’re Castaways or The Sims Medieval. The main difference though is that we can create/download as many new tombs as we want, which 100% keeps WA fresh and interesting for me. But yes, It’s an excellent pack, which is crazy considering it’s the first one for TS3.

Toni's biggest criticism for Pets is how high maintenance horses are, which YES. Unless your sims are rich and own a lot of property, horses are almost impossible to own...but that’s how horses are IRL anyway, so IMO I don’t see that as a negative. The only problem is when you want horses in CC worlds that are too small, where you can't fit in enough 64x64 lots. (So it’s no surprise TS4 didn’t even bother. 🙄 )

C: Ambitions

Toni felt that more could’ve been done with the professions & careers, which, YES! Too many rabbithole careers, and not enough interactions. I freaking love that they added professions with playable firehouses and private investigators, but I too wish that every career could just be opened up; I hate rabbitholes. And she thought Twinbrook was meh, but I think Twinbrook’s one of the better EP worlds. (The Store worlds are where it’s at, though -- eff most of the EP worlds, tbh.) Overall I really really like AMB; it was headed in the right direction, though I can see where it could’ve easily let people down who were expecting a lot more from the professions/careers. (EA obviously learned NOTHING from AMB’s feedback, considering what Get to Work did....)

D: Showtime, Island Paradise, Into the Future

Showtime: Toni said “what was this game?“ 😂The Genies were a poor fit, the professions should’ve given us WAY more, there’s no acting career in “Hollywood,“ etc. Exactly. Not to mention the dumpster fire that was Simport. But I have a love/hate relationship with SHT. I actually treat SHT the way I do UNI & IP -- I really like the side content it added; I just never bother with the core game mechanic: superstardom, schools, and underwater. That makes 50% of the game useless for me, which is why I always get EPs on sale. ^_^

I agree with Toni that Island Paradise should’ve been like World Adventures, with different vacation locations. It could’ve been more like Castaways, with Tiki/Polynesian/Melanesian islands, Asian islands, Caribbean islands, Mediterranean Islands, etc. Plus, both of us didn’t like the mermaid system. Making them requires too much effort for them to not do all that much underwater. But to be fair, IP added A LOT Of new content. For what it did add, there is an impressive amount. Island Living sure can't say the same! 🤣

Into the Future however.... I understand why Toni was so hard with this pack. Trust: I ran the main thread at the officials that asked for a Time Travel expansion, so ITF holds a very special place in my heart, cuz EA for the most part kinda listened? ITF is awesome. It added some super cool content that I use religiously; ITF’s one of my top 3 EPs. But yeah, choices were made that had me like WTF?? Toni wanted ITF to be more hi-tech, which SAME! I wanted more of a Star Wars Blade Runner cyberpunk neon metropolis, and a steampunk/dieselpunk industrial dystopia. I have no idea where TF that “utopian” Willy Wonka zany Hunger Games nonsense came from. It was kinda retro-futuristic Jetsons Star Trek TOS in a way, which I like, but...? Choices. EA definitely could’ve done more with ITF, for sure. IMO itr needed to be more like WA, too. U_U

F: Late Night - I hollered! 😭

Y’all know I effing hate Late Night. Only reason I keep it installed is for the musical instruments & highrises. It’s certainly no Apartment Life, and it’s definitely no Night Life, but it’ll do in a pinch. The obnoxious Celebrities/Paparazzi, Twilight vampires, cramped Bridgeport...no thanks. Especially with Boroughsburg out here just SHAMING EA. SHAME! I wish someone would remake Bridgeport as a cyberpunk world, that would be awesome. Otherwise most of LN is useless to me. :\

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TL;DR

So basically, if I were to follow Toni’s S A B C D F ranking system, and classify TS3′s EPs based on its content quantity, and EA’s dedication to thematic cohesion, my list would be as follows:

S: Generations, Seasons, Supernatural

All radically overhaul the core mechanics of the game/world itself: age states, weather, and lifestates/occults.

A: World Adventures, Pets

World Adventures added 3 new worlds and cultures; and Pets added animals. It’s just arguable whether EA should’ve done more with them all or not.

B: University, Island Paradise, Into the Future

Chock-full of new activities & skills, but your mileage may vary.

C: Ambitions (AMB didn’t really come with as much as it should have)

D: Showtime (SHT included a lot, but not much of it made thematic sense)

F: Late Night (LN needed to commit to what makes a celebrity--music/movie/fashion/etc CAREERS--rather than the hollow lifestyle of a celeb)