I'll be really honest, as much as I loved it in Sims 3; I am very happy it is gone with Sims 4. I like it a lot more like this and being able to focus entirely on one family and the generations after instead of how hectic Sims 3 could feel at times. I loved being able to walk around and stuff but the big picture is, I'm only loading one house at a time now. Which is fantastic. If Sims 3 had done this, I would be able to play the mermaid xpac without the problems I have now. I can play the entire game with every option on high, even using the in-game recorder while doing so. But that island is just a huge laggy mess for me. So working with one lot to load from now on is going to be a blessing as far as I am concerned. o:)
On the other hand, I am worried about the story progression going back to Sims 2 style. Don't get me wrong, I adore Sims 2 but what I like about whole neighborhoods being open and functional all together is that the story evenly progresses with all of the families. While this also had it's obvious downs (families splitting up, while you weren't playing them; because Sims don't really understand relationships well for instance lol) I am worried about losing this key function in Sims 4. As much as I like to focus on one family or even at times, a single Sim; they do tend to make friends or begin romantic interests. So does this mean my Sim children's friends won't grow up when they do? Will we receive a notice like Sims 2 when our children grow up, notifying us that yes their friends have grown up but because they had a crummy life (you aren't able to control and help them so most likely they won't be happy a lot of the time) they will grow up with less opportunities as your Sims? :o
These are my personal up and down concerns about this. I just hope things sort of even themselves out and that this time we are heard more so then fans were in Sims 3. I expect game bugs and all, don't misunderstand me. But glitches that crash the game and make it unplayable are inexcusable, especially in such large amounts of game-play, after it has been released. :s
