Re: I hate eco lifestyle
Yeah, I love Eco Lifestyle, but some of the NAPs are SUPER IRRITATING, yes. You need to actively vote for the ones you want and actively repeal the ones you don't. (If you have testing cheats on, you can instant repeal or enact NAPs that way, and there are settings to disable NPC voting so your Sims are the ones who vote.)
My rating of the NAPs, your opinions may vary:
- Modern/Green Initiatives in Port Promise - super clutch if you live in Port Promise, unless you're one of the people who wants to live in a gross, polluted environment
- Back to the Old Days - Meh. :P Would be good for an off-the-grid lot, though.
- Clean Energy Production - Get rewarded for owning solar panels and windmills through BILL REDUCTION I'm here for it!
- Eco-Friendly Appliances - This is good unless the NAP inspector comes around and tells you that you're not in compliance and you can't find the non-upgraded item no matter how many times you search. :P
- Foodies, Unite! - Fine unless you have a club gathering at your house or otherwise have a lot of NPCs on your lot. Then you'll have 10 people all trying to make white cakes at the same time. THE FOODPOCALYPSE.
- Free Love - Awesome if you don't like jealousy in your game, although the people making out on your front porch might get old. 😉 OTOH, it resulted in Guidry and Vlad making out on my front porch, which I found HILARIOUS.
- Fun Loving Community - pretty innocuous, get rewarded for playing video games.
- Juiced Community - all NPCs will be dazed 24/7 because they're drunk.
- Green Gardening - I play a lot of gardeners so I like this one. The catch is that you get dinged if you have this but no bee box or insect farm, even though it doesn't say so on the description.
- Power Conservation - this is the one you hate with the power out. Vote it out! (I sometimes pick this if playing off the grid, though.)
- Promote the Creative Arts - I play a lot of artists so I like this. You gain influence by painting, fabrication, photography, etc.
- Rock Your Body (and Mind) - If your Sims work out a lot this is good, but shower a lot, too.
- Roughhousing Encouraged - I DESPISE this one, others find it HILARIOUS. Basically, random fights break out all the time, even with your played Sims. My newlywed husband started a physical brawl with his bride right after I moved him in (and had his butt handed to him by the bride). We repealed it.
- Self-Sufficiency: Get rewarded for gardening, fishing, and handiness, which I sometimes do a lot of in some saves, and the neighbors will help you with your garden. The drawback is that your neighbors will also steal your flowers and autonomously brew herbalism potions all over your lot. Like, I had 20 before I used MC Tuner to forbid it.
- Sharing is Caring - OMG THE WORST. No public lots will remain functional and all your neighbors will rob you blind. Anyone visiting your lot will steal from you, including your appliances and kitchen counters.
- Support the Performing Arts: Not bad if you play an actor or musician. NPCs will wander the street playing instruments, so don't pick this if it will annoy you.
- Upcycling Initiative: Pick this if you do a lot of recycling and fabrication. If you don't own a recycler on your lot, you will get dinged, though.
- Water Conservation: The water version of power conservation. I sometimes pick this if off the grid. Otherwise, vote it out!
- We Wear Bags: This is the bags on heads thing you hate. I've never used it because I think it's kind of dumb, but in a way other people might find funny, so more power to them!
I think the pack works best with things like Rags to Riches (dumpster diving is THE BOMB for R2R), Saving the World narratives (I'm a sucker for those), and the Eco Inventor career (I LOVE the planters you get with that career! my Eco Inventor is chained to her Fabricator making these for my gardener!). (Do be warned about the composting container for the toilet, though. Buy an insect farm and clean it out regularly.) Juice Fizzing and Candle Making have some interesting effects, too.
The Aurora Borealis is lovely, too.
Of course, it's possible that none of this fits with your personal playstyle, and that's okay, too! but go ahead and get rid of the NAPs you hate and set it to not allow NPC voting if you want to give it a second chance.
P.S. If someone from the Landgraab Power Company calls you and says that they're turning off the power due to squirrels, ALWAYS say "Yes, OF COURSE I'm prepared!"
