Re: Which expansion pack is the most worth getting

@elulu8 Yes, you can have pets in an apartment no problem. I'm partial to cats so many of my apartment Sims own cats. Cats seem easier to me because they can use a litter box. Dogs are a bit trickier because they need to go outside to go potty (or they'll use a balcony, yuck). You might have to take them on walks for this but it can be done. Also, I'm not sure if neighbors will complain about a dog barking. I'll have to test this sometime. I've never had a neighbor complain about a cat.

So for Vet Clinics, almost all of the residential lots in San Myshuno are apartments and they will not work for this. There is one regular residential lot, the Old Salt House, that should work fine, though it's a bit on the pricey side.

The Old Salt House

Hi @elulu8 - good questions. 🙃

To answer your most recent questions, there are a few lots in San Myuchino that are not designated as apartments and you could replace the default lot with a vet clinic if you want to. And in one of my households, I have a sim with two big dogs and who is a vet with her own clinic in Brindleton, so I can vouch that it’s also really easy to live in San Myuchino and travel to a vet clinic in a different neighborhood as well. And yes pets are definitely allowed in apartments!  

Right now there seems to be a bug (in my game at least) that is preventing dogs from being able to autonomously use elevators to relieve themselves outdoors, but that hasn’t always been the case, so presumably it’s temporary - and I’m not even sure if everyone is experiencing that same bug. (I just use the whistle icon to call them to me while I’m outside the apartment and then ask them to do their business, so the workaround is pretty easy cheesy if you do find that you have it. The dogs will go back inside on their own when they’re done so you don’t have to go through the hassle of putting them on a leash.)

Regarding Sims 5, I’ve heard unofficial rumors that the base game might be released later this year to coincide with the Sims 20th anniversary but it seems pretty late in the year for that to still be unofficial. In any case I think your should be able to get a lot out of Sims 4 even once the Sims 5 base game does come out. Ive actually been playing since the original Sims was released my freshman year of college, and one thing I remember about the transition from one Sims version to the next is that the base game always seems to lack a lot of the functionality I’m accustomed to enjoying when it’s first released but before there’s much additional content available, so I would alternate between the previous version and the newest for a while. 

All three of the expansion packs you’re considering are excellent choices. City living expands gameplay thru the rent feature and includes more active shared community spaces in addition to the various festivals throughout the week that are a lot of fun and can be enjoyed by households that live in every neighborhood. I really enjoy the periodic ‘seasonal’ variation to gameplay that Seasons adds, in addition to the ability to enjoy all of the different holidays (plus it includes a calendar function so you can customize and modify the holidays exist in your game). And get to work has the three active careers, all of which are fun, and allow you to follow and actively play your Sim at their workspace. I think the scientist career in particular has a lot to offer (bonus: it made me laugh a lot, the first time through). Those are just highlights from my perspective, to add to the awesomely detailed feedback you already got from @RandomBuzziness. Honestly, I think you should get all three! 

😁

Note on edit: revised a couple of the more egregious voice to text translation errors I missed initially. 🙄

@elulu8, in addition to @RandomBuzziness 's wonderful advice I want to add that while you can change the Old Salt House to a vet clinic, you don't have to do so as you can still access the one that comes with Brindleton Bay or any other neighborhood in the game like Willow Creek, Oasis Springs , or New Crest  if you have built any vet clinics in other neighborhoods. 

I have really enjoyed all of the packs you are considering getting.  My favorite is Cats & Dogs, but the pack I recommend the most to people is Seasons (it is a close second favorite of mine anyway! ❤️)  Like @RandomBuzziness  said, Seasons just incorporates into all your existing Sims' lives so well!  Different worlds/neighborhoods will get different weather patterns (Oasis Springs will get super hot in the Summer, while Brindleton Bay will get more rain/snow depending on the season).  

And not only can you tailor make your own holidays, you can edit existing holidays.  For example, if I play a single Sim who I don't want to get into a romantic relationship (usually because I'm testing something in the game and don't want to get sidetracked), I will edit Love Day to consist of only decorating the house and watching Romance TV!  That way I can rack up the Aspiration points without having to change the my gameplaying style for that household! 🙌  You can also delete holidays that you don't want, which is what I do whenever the minor holiday called Neighborhood Brawl comes around! 

Do keep in mind that certain plants will only produce harvestables in their appropriate seasons, unless you plant them indoors or in a greenhouse.  

And if your Sims have children, there are more activities for them to do if you have Seasons, like water balloon fights, snowball fights, building snowpals, the swingset, and seasonal crafts on the drawing table! 🥳

However, both City Living and Get to Work are a lot of fun. I love the Scientist career in Get to Work (there are some powerful items you can create like the Sim Ray , the Satellite dish that can cause or prevent Alien abductions, and the portal to the world of Sixam (the home of those Aliens), and the cloning machine!  You can also run your own retail store, be a police officer, or be a doctor!  City Living is one of my favorites because of all the different cultures that that pack has, with all the clothing, decorations, and food!  My favorite thing to do is similar to @RandomBuzziness , as I love the Spice Market as well, and that area of San Myshuno holds the Spice Festival, which I have most of my Sims attend so they can learn the new recipes!  🙌🥳   My Sims end up fat from this over time, so I either have to make them exercise a lot, or else use the ice cream machine form the Cool Kitchen Stuff Pack so I can make the ice cream flavor that makes them loose weight! 😃  But if you love mingling with other Sims or bright colors, then you will probably love this pack.😉

But if I could only get one pack, it would be Seasons!  I can't think of a time that I heard anyone regret getting that pack, and most people have it as their favorite or close to their favorite! ❤️

Update! :  I was composing my reply when @suzushka posted!  @suzushka brings up excellent points as well! 🙂  
One thing I forgot was to add that about a year and a half ago a Sim Guru said that TS4 would have at least 3 more years to go!  I would think the earliest date would be 2022, but then again things have changed in the world and some businesses have slowed their release dates on many products, so that should be taken into account as well.  But even without that, It still will be several years off . 😉 

I really like the sound of city living and I love that it adds a new world. I also don't think that I will get sims 5 right when it comes out and will wait for a sale or even the anniversary. Ive heard that its coming out in 2021

@elulu8, if you think you will prefer City Living then get City Living!  I really love this pack and use the clothing, hair, and Build/Buy mode items from it all the time, and still regularly attended the festivals!  

A wonderful festival for your starter Sims (especially if you don't like playing with money cheats) is the Humor and Hijinks festival!  That festival has you choose if you want to be on the Humor (comedy) or Hijinks (mischief) side and then you drink the corresponding drink for which side you choose.  Once you do that , preform either humorous or mischievous actions and if the side you joined wins the contest with the most interactions in their respective categories, then you get a bunch of expensive items as a reward.  Both sides will gift you a bunch of fireworks if you win (which if you are poor, you can sell off for a nice amount of Simoleons) and the Humor group's winning gift is a stand-up comedy microphone (I think worth 500 Simoleons) and the Hijinks group's winning gift is a voodoo doll which I think is worth 900 Simoleons!  It is a nice way to have families starting off with low funds , quickly get a little cushion to their bank accounts without you having to resort to money cheats! 😇

As for the rumor that TS5 is coming out in 2021, I wouldn't hold my breath! 🤨 There is nothing official that there will even be a TS5 (although I think there will be and I think they probably have started working on it). Like I said earlier, about a year and a half ago, a Sim Guru stated that there will be at least 3 more years of content coming to TS4.  That would mean that we have at least 1 and a half years left of TS4, and then add the fact that each time EA has released the last pack of a Sims version, it is about 6 months between that and the new version. 🤨 So that would put us at June of 2022 at the earliest !🙂  Then add to the fact that TS4 might go on a bit longer than even that , plus the fact that certain things going on in the world right now have slowed down some companies rates of production.  But even without that it still shouldn't be any earlier than June of 2022.  I don't work for EA, but combining patterns from past release intervals, with logic, and with what the Sim Gurus have actually said, this is the earliest I can see TS5 being released. 😉  I would rather wait for a better game anyway than rush one that doesn't work.  And while it is possible that TS5 could be relased by 2021, it wouldn't be until very late 2021, and that is still very unlikely. 😉

The good news for you is that you will have longer than you expected to enjoy TS4! 🙌 As for City Living, I always love when my Sims learn to appreciate spicy foods (because I love spicy foods) and learn to master chopsticks (because I am lousy at chopsticks unless it is to handle large pieces of vegetables or meat. 😃  I just can't seem to get the hang of eating chopsticks with rice 😳🤭 … but then again I usually prefer to eat my rice with a spoon so I can get every last grain! 🙌). 

Hopefully later you can get Seasons and Get to Work! And I agree with @xJaimerTheGamerx that the Parenthood Game Pack is excellent for  people who love to play with families in the game! 🥳  It makes your Sim families feel more like an actual family and not just a collection of different aged Sims living together! ❤️

Please update us on which you end up getting, as well as your thoughts on it! 😇

Here are a few parting pictures from City Living:

Hey @PugLove888, @RandomBuzziness, @Phantomlover1717 ,@elulu8:

I kinda think we should all get together to remind @xJaimerTheGamerx to get Get Together.

😉

Edit: @elulu8 - just saw your recent Q re: being a landlord - that’s not a feature in City Living.