Eco Lifestyle - to buy or not to buy

I have it and I think its amazing, brings such a fun aspect to the game!

I have it, but I didn't buy it for the NAPS, that doesn't interest me. I bought it for the additional crafting and activities. I have had NAPS turned off from the very beginning. The only issue I've had is one of my worlds went green and the sun rays were EXTREMELY bright (to the point that I literally couldn't see the world around my sim's lot), so I have to use a mod to keep all worlds neutral. I like the build/buy stuff a lot and use some of it in almost every house I make over.

I really like, personally. A lot of your cons I do not really deal with. For example, I've always had NPC voting off since day one. You will get a pop up saying something won, but nothing actually does, so no NAPs unless you put them in place. This also means no Eco inspectors and bags. I do not really remember having problems with them, but I also do not remember them showing up a lot either. Also, the Eco score naturally gravitates towards neutral so even if you start in the Eco's neighborhoods with a set score they won't stay that way for long. So very little chance you will deal with acid rain.

I still haven't seen the death by beetles/flies, either, but I've never particularly encouraged it. Tending to beetles can be difficult, though, and if you choose bombadier beetles they do light fires. I think they were toned down, though, because the first time I played with them it was crazy.

As for the Eco parts, my main complaint with them is usually that I am not going to dumpster dive to get them. While that crafting system is nice and not world specific, it still can be a bit of a pain to incorporate. I am not sure which Eco upgrades you are specifically talking about, but the one I am having issues with lately is the one that makes things work off the grid. All I can say is it is bugged, should work, and will theoretically be fixed.

Now, to be completely fair, I've had a long Eco NAP bugged household I just recently found and fixed, but they were made when Eco was first launched and was more than kind of screwy. They had a NAP trait saved with them that constantly charged me money when they completed TV watching actions. Made it nearly impossible to diagnose, but there are mods to fix it and cheat trick which I did. Besides that, though, I have had remarkably few issues with Eco. I think it is one of the better packs in 4. Ultimately, only you will know if you like it, though.

I'll try to address your concerns here. I have played with EL since the release.

- random phone calls
I actually love these. Just pick the options that do nothing I guess.
- NAPS (I know you can turn them off, but I still read some Simmers have problems with it. My game is close to problem-free right now.)
Most simmers really have no problems with NAPs turned off. I keep the voting turned off, but select some that I want to use. Many of them are too annoying though!
- eco footprint (s.a.)
Haven't tried turning it off, haven't heard of problems if it's off. But it doesn't work great when on, kind of a broken feature.
- eco upgrade parts (I read reports they do not work as intended.)
Easy to ignore I guess, I've never played with these so no idea.
- death by beetles/flies
Never seen, probably very hard to trigger.
- acid rain
Having eco footprints off it shouldn't occur at all. Either way it's not very common since getting industrial footpring is hard.
- eco inspectors and fees
This is part of NAPs.
- the new world
Don't play there? I like it so not sure what to say. There's no way to have grunge like that in any other world, but you can also clean it via NAPs if you wish.
- half of the CAS
Could bother if townies wear it, I see. Maybe a mod would help if it really bothers you.
- bags over the head
Again part of a NAP, can be disabled. You'll need to edit one premade family and after that you'll see no bags in the game.

I play rotationally with aging on long and I've enjoyed the pack. It's not my favourite but there's really a lot to explore. I don't use any mods. I see we don't play exactly in the same way but kind of close. I'd recommend getting the pack if it interests you, but waiting for the bundle can be a good option too.

Let me just add this... It's a little cheat you can do with EL.

If you have Tiny Living, make your house a micro home and set that up in the lot description.

If you have City Living, I think, set the house to have Geothermal and Natural Well.


Now the good stuff.--

Have the cheapest furniture you can get.

Add roof windmills, as they produce the most power. 3 or 4 should be enough.

Add 1 or 2 large dew collectors.

Use bill discount flooring and walls.

Set house to off the grid.

Use only off the grid appliances.

Set electricity and water to sell.

NAPs can help! Set up the power and water conservation NAPs.

If done right, your bills will lead to profits, rather than expenses.

Thanks all for your input/feedback. I'm downloading the game right now...

For a Sims 4 expansion I think it's pretty decent, as for the negatives:

- random phone calls - it's not that common and not a big deal at all imo

- NAPS (I know you can turn them off, but I still read some Simmers have problems with it. My game is close to problem-free right now.) - if you turn them off straight away they won't appear

- eco footprint (s.a.) - it's pretty much nonexistent and will stay neutral unless you do anything

- eco upgrade parts (I read reports they do not work as intended.) - never had any issue

- death by beetles/flies - never had this happen once

- acid rain - also never had this happen once

- eco inspectors and fees - doesn't happen unless that specific NAP is enacted

- the new world - the world is disappointing imo. the port neighborhood is 10/10 a great neighborhood, but the other two are terrible and totally unplayable in my opinion as they feel like total ghost towns because there's so many fake houses and next to no real ones. if you stick to the port it's fun to play with though.

- half of the CAS - it's decent enough. there's nothing notably bad apart from the jean skirt

- bags over the head - doesn't happen unless that specific NAP is enacted, theres only one bag head in the world but you can pretty easily remove it

I have it, and i must admit there are several features I never focused on. I play rotationally, which I assume you do too. Many features do base on new skills so you will not max the potential unless you play the same sim for a period. I like many of the new work-at-home posibilities, but none of my sims maxed neither candle making, fabricing or juice making. I guess you might enjoy it more if you are a RL person focusing more on ECO. Personally I get this bit satisfied through the CoL EP, but ECO would add to those households not living in the countryside.

One thing I like with the pack is actually the NAPs. I hate them the way they were designed, but the idea is great, and I only wish we could customize our own NAPs. Still, I did integrate them with my community aspects and political parties/elections etc.

PS: I think ECO lifestyle came with very good BB that feels quite unique and fills a space where we had very little.

"Simmerville;c-17967039" wrote:
I only wish we could customize our own NAPs.

Same, I'd probably use the NAP feature more if that was the case.

I wonder if custom NAPs could be added to the political career?