Island Living: Unpopular opinion
I feel that Island living is really underated. I comes with alot of good gameplay for all lifestates, toddlers can play in water, build sandcastles, etc the whole faimly feels involved with the gamep...
Forum Discussion
I love Island Living too! But I was not involved in the Sims community until after it's release, and bought it well after - in fact, it was the free demo that sold me on it. I think Island Living's biggest problem was the marketing/expectations. It sounds like everyone wanted it to be a hotel pack, and expected it to be a mermaid pack, but it's neither (unless you'd describe Get to Work as an "alien pack" which I wouldn't). The marketing should have been much less focused on mermaids and more focused on what it actually is.
There's no hotels, but I didn't buy it for hotels. Mermaids are a simple side feature, but I didn't buy it for mermaids. I love the active careers (I know there isn't an official location, but you can choose "work from home" and then travel to whatever workplace you want to build). I love the odd jobs. I love the beautiful world, and the fact that even toddlers can play in the sand and the water. I love that you can change Sulani by cleaning it up - in my opinion, a better implementation than Eco Lifestyle. I love that the welcome wagon and firefighting have unique local twists to them in this world. I love trying to please the island spirits, or survive near a volcano... and that you can choose if you want to play with either of those lot traits (or mermaids) without them being forced on you every single game. I love that there's activities unique to the island culture - kava parties, cooking in the fire pit, diving - and that kids were not forgotten either, getting a swing set and some pretty good CAS.
Yeah, I agree that the marketing was off. It does feel like they planned more at some stage that didn't make it into the pack (Sulani culture, mermaids, one of the maps is named something that implies that resorts were planned at one stage), but what they have... I love that it's not, you know, WASPy North America. I love that the Welcome Wagon an the neighbors are different. I do love mermaids and play mermaids a lot, but I also harp on their tombstones and bassinets and lack of skill tree.
BUT. I love that you can change Mua Pe'lam with gameplay, and feel like Island Living introduced a lot of features that were expanded on in Eco Lifestyle (another pack I like a lot and use a lot and bought for my off-grid mermaids). The active career is great, and I've copied you, @PipMenace, and bought Caldera Camp as a "business" (one of my conservationists is rich) and then I made a club and have my Conservationists have "club meetings" when they go to work, so they see their coworkers. I use the club "together" whenever a work action has that option, so they're all taking samples from the ocean together, etc.
I do, however, have to UI cheat away the WFH task "go snorkeling" for my mermaid Conservationist still...
