When I played sims 3 I played on a (older)gaming pc and never had the problem with crashing or freezing. Tho I think I did not play on the “best” settings to make it work as smooth as possible because I knew I was not playing on a top tier gaming pc at that time.
Nice ideas you come with :)
if I where EA I would make this matter optional for players. So if you are on a gaming pc (like myself) that we could decide our self with mode we would play on.
the perfect list of optional would be:
option 1: like it is now. That would suit players on most consoles and older laptops.
option 2: like it is now + open full lot on for rent. That I think would be suited for newer consoles and better average laptops.
option 3: open neighbourhood would fit for most gaming pc and gaming laptops
option 4: open world option for them with good enough gaming pc.
it would be a dream if EA did this!