Imo, IL was so badly received bc of the lack of gameplay, not the world's theme. Sulani is beautiful. IL disappointed me bc of no scuba diving, no resorts etc. They relied too heavily on the cultural exploration aspect. While it is awesome to learn more about the cultures that a world is based on, the pack remains an EP/GP that is supposed to bring gameplay. I'm not advocating for TS4 to become a real-life tourism simulation. DLC should be useful in all corners of the game, not tied only to the world they come with. Besides build/buy and cas, IL is largely useless when playing somewhere other than Sulani.
People angry that Sulani isn't a destination world, would probably have been fine with it being residential if it came with resorts. Resorts make any world a vacation world if you want it to be. For simmers that play predominantly in the suburbs, Sulani is a getaway, and for simmers who live in Sulani, Willow Creek might be an interesting vacation. As a South African, North America would be a vacation for me - I'd go eat curly fries, American pie and a strawberry milkshake in a retro diner and then head back to my home that many other countries think of as a vacation destination. TS4 should cater for these differences in perspective.
