@Sk8rblaze
The very first thing I thought about when I saw the Star Wars brand coming to The Sims was what you mentioned: take Sixam and flesh it out; add something original and in keeping with Sim lore.
However, I read somewhere on these forums that the devs wouldn't be enhancing Sixam because it came with a pack you had to buy -- and so not everyone has access to it (great way to hamstring your players, but, hey, it brings in money!). My sims have been to Sixam a total of two times. It's not a world that begs me to come back, I'll say that about it.
I agree, it does seem like The Sims is suffering an identity crisis. We have aliens and an alien world that need attention. Instead, we leave all that to embrace a brand that exists outside of The Sims. Personally, I have no problem with brands being introduced to The Sims (I enjoyed The Ikea stuff pack from TS2 days), but what bugs me the most is that what has been introduced is done just "enough" to make (and sell) a pack while yet feeling somehow "incomplete" or, at least, without much depth (or, even worse, with a ton of bad design choices -- situational outfits anyone?). And, truth be told, with the brands that have been introduced (Ikea, MAC, etc.), I can forget they're brands at all. Not so with something like Star Wars. But I can choose to not buy it. I'm OK with having a pack that I don't want to buy. And, for the sake of having more options, I may buy it -- but only after I know modders can help me keep randos from carrying lightsabers and wearing alien face masks, tights and eyeball rings.
Regarding the adventure type of gameplay, another simmer commented that TS3 incorporated those "adventures" with other gameplay features that made visiting Egypt, for example, a different experience for each of the sims that visited it. But what is so different about Strangerville's storyline from one sim to the next? How different is being in Selvadorada from one sim to another? And what options will truly exist with this latest pack besides "three different" directed storylines?
I feel so much of what you are saying regarding the "little to no confidence" in the leaders of the series as it is moving away from a true simulation imo.
