I definitely can see why you like sims 4 more than freeplay, Im not sure anyone would say free play is their favorite game compared to the main generation!
Definitely check out all the info there is on Project Renee! (or maybe it’s Rene?) All I know about it is it was announced more than a year ago and everybody thought it was gonna be the Sims 5. But then one of EA’s most recent blog posts debunked that and said they were gonna go in a new direction, but I have no idea what that means lol
there are so many different playing styles tho that whatever they choose to do for their next addition to the Sims family, I think multiplayer could be a cool feature but it should definitely be OPTIONAL. One of my biggest pet-peeves is games where you literally cannot play without internet connection, and gameplay is basically locked if you choose not to participate in the social aspect.