If you are not seeing joy in playing the game, maybe you are not ready to come back to it. Just saying. It should not feel like a chore playing it or paying for it. It should bring you joy.
This isn't about pleasure. I'm talking specifically about a specific abusive sales model that targets the customer, especially in a game with as loyal a fanbase as The Sims.
beachandrats looking at it a different way, what type of player are you? That's if you have a certain gameplay style? Certain packs might appeal to your style and some may not. So for example my gameplay style centres around building lots, neighbourhoods and family networks. My favourite type of Sims are collectors and crafters who travel around a lot, have pets and have family members in different places. I also prefer them to be self employed. So certain packs fit my gameplay style like Horse Ranch, Cottage Living, Island Living, Business and Hobbies, Eco Lifestyle. Also as a builder I'm all about kits. I'm not a big occult player and have Werewolves and Vampires purely for the content, I don't play those Sims and clear most of them out (but I do love Greg 🐺 and the werewolf lore). These things also occupy me and help me relax with my disability when I'm stuck indoors quite a bit.
To be honest even if someone handed you all the packs free right now it would be a lot and I mean a lot to handle. Packs like Growing Together, Business and Hobbies, For Rent and Enchanted by Nature for example add loads of new gameplay mechanics that are IMO best integrated into the game one at a time. I'm still catching up with Business and Hobbies and haven't even gotten into fairy gameplay yet except for the new skills.
So my advice would be to look at packs that fit your style. Seek any advice you need from the forum and when it comes to the expansion packs take a bit of time with each one. You can also browse our bug reports to see which packs still have some issues, like For Rent.
No one is forcing you to buy anything. All purchases are voluntary last I checked.
I don't understand why somebody expects a popular game as Sims 4, just to stand still. It's expected to go forward and to explore more ways for the players to enjoy their game. I've played the Sims from the start 25 years ago and find it satisfactory to spend some time playing the Sims 4. The new feature to not have all packs active at the same time, open up new "old" ways to enjoy the game. So in my humble opinion, nobody needs all the packs to have fun! - BTW California is a very expensive state to live in, I just wonder when EA leaves it.
