I've been loving on Sims2 again ever since my Sims4 game lost the ability to zoom in and out, or use 1st person mode (but to be honest the only fun for me in sims4 was testing out mods that I hadn't already grown tired of), and was amazed at how much more engaging it is. It could be the only Sims game I play and I'd be happy.
As for needs decay, something I had never figured out until just recently, is to check out the aspiration rewards. You click that when the icon is glowing, and you can use points (king of like vampiric or magic points, which purchase those traits or bonuses?) to buy slower fun-and-social decay under one category, or slower hygiene-and-sleep decay or whatever combo it was, and what I do first, is get slower decay on all needs. Then I go for financial or career advantages.
It really helps a lot!
