It's still too early for me to assign a number. That's probably because part of my ranking will ultimately be based on how they end the series.
I know that I am out of step with some of the opinions in this thread. That's just how it goes. I guess that I don't mind the "sandbox with prompts" style at all. I'm probably more of a sandbox player and I have found that I've been able to happily play in my own sandbox, doing my own thing and making a game that I enjoy. I have a game with a cast of characters and when I opt for the new content, it adds to that. I find the game visually very immersive. I also like a lot of the settings in the game and I've been able to adapt them in ways that I want.
Sure, I want to see some more to do, more gameplay, if you will, but I am not missing a much more directed gameplay style. I'm someone who liked packs like Spa Day and (bugs aside) Dine Out for adding more forums where my sims could interact how they want to. I actually haven't tried to play as a restaurant owner yet. If I do? That restaurant owner will come to town to be a character among the others in my game; I have thought about adding am adult brother and sister who come to my sim world in order to run a family restaurant and then interact with the local community. Running the restaurant would still be a bit secondary to my own plots in the game. I guess that I play this game differently than some others. I've appreciated what packs like Parenthood have added and I'd like to continue to see some other content that appeals to different themes.
Do I have some complaints about the game? Sure. Mostly minor bugs though sometimes considerable and persistent bugs in packs upon the release of new content is a big one. C&D was very buggy at first and did feel a little thin, though again, it has a large variety of breeds. Some might say that they don't care about the detail of the breeds that are in the game. Fair enough, again, we all look for different things. I'm happier with being able to add various breeds that act and sound accurate and realistic than I would be if they focused on making a pet an actor or rescuer. Sure, I might have someone with an acting dog but it's not something that I'm really looking for.
I do think that sometimes they skew the content in a very childish direction, as in, far more childish than teen. I think that's probably reflective of the cultural environment that we are in right now and because they are hoping that by offending as few as possible, that they will sell more of the games. Basically, childhood and parenting are considered to be very inoffensive and to appeal to people of various persuasions around the world so in this "advanced dollhouse" game, that's become a large focus. As someone who has families in my game, I do appreciate a lot of that content but I do agree that it feels like it dominates the game right now so I'd like to see some variety.
Aside from some specific points, I generally very much enjoy this game and I've enjoyed the content that I have added. I'm not waiting for TS5 in order to buy essentially the same content yet again even if it includes things like an open world or create-a-style. I'm not missing those things enough to want to buy similar content again any time soon. Some years in, might I cave for it? Yeah, perhaps, during a sale with a range of content, I might be tempted in the same way that I rejoined TS4. I'm not going to plan for that though. I'll probably continue to play with my TS4 rotation as it interests me and I'll ultimately go onto other things, spending my time in other ways.
It's entirely possible that they might try to address some of these complaints with new content in this version, though some things probably can't be changed at this stage.
