I get your complaints, and they are valid to you as a player. While I hear you, I do not agree with much of it.
They have attempted to fix the black photos in most instances. At least as far as I was aware based on previous patches. Many can not fix retroactively, which is a bummer, but that only means minimal saves can not be fixed. I want save corruption fixed, but realize that will never happen because the game files can only be so big.
Personally, I have NEVER confused a Sims 4 teen with a Sims 4 adult. I find that laughable that others confuse those two different lifestages. Teens have a different build, usually with less broad shoulders for male build and less full rack for female build.
While I have played the franchise since the very first iteration, before aging was even a thing, I know each iteration have different charm. Sims 2 had the cutscenes which I enjoyed but do not need. Sims 3 had an open world, which I just never enjoyed while playing because I dislike those types of games. Other players enjoyed it, so they can be nostalgic. Sims 4 has emotional states, which I am not fond about, but found ways to fix it both without and with mods.
Not everyone suffers from FOMO. I think that is a modern-day gamer thing. Personally, I have content that I don't even want in-game due to it being added for free. I use mods to hide much of that bloatware content. But we do not need all the limited time bloatware added to satisfy the few with fomo.
I use gameplay mechanics as a way to differentiate a younger pre-teen (the last 6 days of a 13 day normal lifespan) as they have higher skills and can dress looking older. With an older pre-teen (the first 7 days of a 21 day lifespan) I can have them dress looking younger and they do not have very high skills. It is quite easy to mimic the a pre-teen in-game without an extra lifestage. Perhaps it is just my being a Gen X gamer that makes it easy for me to use the mechanics already provided in-game to mimic a in-between stage that effectively is during part of 2 lifestages.
In interviews, I have read about how they showcased different mechanics for each iteration. I also read they didn't want to revisit old mechanics from previous games. Essentially you are asking they do just that. It isn't something the devs were open about doing.
The first iteration was just a new type of game, every day was the schedule and needs were hard to keep green. The second iteration added aging to make it more like actual life. It also had actual days of the week with scheduled days off. The third iteration attempted an open world which would currupt save files quicker. This last iteration had the Sim and not the world as the main focus. It added emotional states and attempted to solve the save corruption issue with a more closed world system. That last part failed, as we learned it is save file size that causes curruption.
Again, I am not saying your own wants for the game are invalid, but just looking at it from a standpoint of an older gamer. I also dislike that EA requires the app to be running for the game to open. I used to easily play offline 99.9% of the time and now it isn't that simple unless I disable my internet while playing.
