What direction would you like to see The Sims to go?

I don't want any other real people walking around in my sims worlds. I'm selfish. It's mine and they would mess it up. I don't play online games because gaming is me time, and I don't want to deal with other people messing with me or my sims during my time to relax and enjoy. Been there, done that with a few games in the past. This is way more relaxing for me.
I don't want VR either. I'm creator and have no business wandering around in my sims worlds. Interfering yes, interacting with them, no.

An Online should always be a standalone, and never apart of the main The Sims series. That's how well original The Sims Online was handled, without interfering with the original player game, and people can enjoy the fan-restored game of it when it's not butting into singleplayer one.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Multiplayer may and might be the whole reason why TS4 is established on a weak foundation and thus many consider as the worse game in the franchise. Developers choose and stopped the whole online plan too soon, didn't thought through, and look what happened. Want an online experence? Go try out FreeSO. At the moment, the sims don't need a multiplayer, and especially doesn't need to be incorporated it into existing singleplayer games.

I woudn't mind being able to visit the world in VR mode, but I wouldn't want to play traditionally in VR nor want single player being handicapped by the needs of adding VR.

The Sims has always been a single player sandbox, and I think it should stay that way. Players are too invested into their own Sims and houses and stories and are not going to allow 'intruders', at least I wouldn't.

I could see a combination with multiplayer happening, though. And maybe I might be tempted to try that (propably just as diversion from regular playing). But I think this should always be optional, for the reason I mentioned above.

If I wanted to play a multiplayer game, I'd play it. I play the Sims so that I can create the world I want, and the sims I want. I'm interested in playing out the stories in my head, not interacting with other players. When I want to interact with other players, I chat with them on a forum. I also want it to be a sandbox, like it was in Sims 2. I want as much freedom to create the sims world I want (world, houses, sims, etc), and for others to have that freedom as well.

The way I play my game lends itself better to a single player offline game style. I have more control over my sims and don't have to worry about someone else messing up my story lines. I don't think the sims would be quite the same if it was an online multiplayer.

I wouldn't mind a VR option as dlc content later on. But if that option takes away ressources from developing the basegame it's a uge NO.