If you had it all to do over again...

I don't think there are any packs I would avoid, even the ones I am less keen on, as there are things in them that I do like. Kits on the other hand... I would not bother buying these:

Bust the Dust (only because I would need a mod to use it), Courtyard Oasis, Carnaval Streetwear, Urban Homage, Sweet Allure, Modern Retreat.

Also, I do not yet own Prairie Dreams, Yard Charm & Wonderland Playroom.

I guess if I had to name my worst big pack it would be For Rent.

I feel fortunate that I never bought My Wedding Stories. I don't cosplay weddings so I never cared about that pack and dodged a bullet.

Of what I do own my main regret is For Rent. I like the gameplay OK, but I only play with it in a separate save file just in case. That makes it feel too isolated so I almost never do it. I am grateful that nothing bad happens with it simply installed so I can use the build/buy items from the pack, I just wish I didn't have to worry about it messing up my saves. 

Otherwise it is hard to say. I don't necessarily actively play with every pack because there are so many but that doesn't mean I never use them or haven't heavily used them in the past. I don't build tiny houses very often but I have one that I actively play all the time. I usually add eco friendly water upgrades and solar panels to save money, but I don't pursue NAP's at all. I like the acting career, but dislike the fame system because it makes it too difficult to build friendships. There are worlds I have never had a played sim live in, but I visit commercial lots in those worlds. I don't know, I just think there is some bit of every pack that I use in some way so it would be hard to remove any of it.

Like someone else mentioned, however, I am trying to actively reduce CC in my game simply because my inventories are overwhelming to scroll through at this point. If I am honest with myself I overdownloaded because it was easy and struck my fancy in the moment but in  truth most of it never gets used.

I came late to the game (as of L&D), and I tried to be careful and research each pack (besides the released since I started playing).

I think I skipped the ones that needed to be skipped. But I am still thinking of getting (on sale only) FR, B&H and C&D (but I want them to update short legged dogs first!).

I skipped both HSY and DU (as school play/teens do not appeal to me). I also skipped MWS, DHD, Parenthood and SD for GPs (JtB I admit I like the BB). I skipped lots, if not most SPs (I have CCSP, PSP, HCHSP, CKSP, VGSP and RGSP) but I am still thinking of getting NKSP and LDSP.

I think if I was to go around for the second time around I'd skip GT (I like dynasties better and honestly never use clubs), ECO (I do not use the gameplay), GF (I only like the BB), and GTW seems like a waste (I only like the extra crystals and Simax).

I only have the kits that came free with R&L, Kits just seem too much as a rip off, I was waiting for them to let us custom bundle them. But it looks like they made a worse call on how to get them.

I would get rid of 

• high school years: I still miss the option to turn off body hair and social bunny with one option for the entire save. I now do this sim per sim, very tedious. I never play active high school anyway. I am also still disappointed how this pack was released to cancel the werewolf GP. This basically killed occult GP
• for rent: in theory this pack sounds great but I don't dare to touch it because of corruption. And building an apartment building from the ground up takes up so much time
• Get famous: I don't touch fame at all. I do like some of the quirky costumes but I could do without.
• Business and hobbies: the custom venues of adventure awaits are better because they don't require an owner. Adventure awaits also adds more hobbies than businesses and hobbies. I would miss pottery but that's not possible off the grid so useless for historical gameplay anyway
• Stuff packs: I would not buy perfect patio, luxury party, fitness stuff and back yard stuff. I don't use those enough and the main gameplay is not worth it or available in other DLC

I am in doubt about cats and dogs. The world is nice but I'm just not a pet person. And parenthood is also on the fence. I like the character values but miss an option to turn off the pop ups and the phases. 

I'd like to say I could leave out like half the packs but in reality I can never bring myself to
Theres always that one hairstyle or that one flooring tile I cannot part with or something 😅

Based purely on gameplay though, yeah, Journey to Batuu probably is first on the list.
I still have never watched Star Wars and I still have no idea what that pack wants me to do 😂
maybe one day...

Also someone mentioned Cottage Living as unpopular opinion and I have to agree that is very unpopular opinion
easily one of the must have packs in my save I'd probably cry if it suddenly disappeared on me 😅
I'm much more into playing stories with my sims though, goal oriented games never were my jam.

the_mikado wrote:

but its popular because it is idylic set dressing and most players of this game don't play the game.

I want to say something about this part  😊 I really very much do play the game, and Cottage Living is one my favourite. It is all about how differently we play this game 😊

I do not need an ultimate goal to play, I was a country pumpkin irl for almost half of my life, why I enjoy all aspects of said EP. My sims who live in Henford sell the extra eggs and goodies to village market, it is how they make their living.  So to me there is a purpose with every egg, hehe 😅

But here is the beauty of the game, we all do on our own way. 😊 What fits another, is not the thing for other.

On topic tho, I do not want to give up anything, but if needed to, there are some I can live without.. maybe.. perhaps.  I hope I never need to find out 😃

I wouldn't have gone so crazy with cc. Build mode and CAS both.

All I would have now is hairs and some jewelry. The quality of items coming out in the creator kits and the EPs has been fantastic. The only thing stopping me from deleting most of the cc is the number of naked, bald, shoeless sims I'd have to fix. Not to mention all the missing furniture. As I start new saves I'm going with all Maxis items except hair. Once my two big story saves are done, my mods folder is going to get a major cleaning.

It's interesting reading so many different takes on this. It just shows how we play different games, and that might be the best capacity of TS4. I own most major packs and a few minor. After years it's a bit hard seeing which features come from where.

If I was forced to remove one pack, I'd choose between Parenthood, Growing together and For Rent. I liked them all on release, but I now have so much content that some of those might make less fuss to remove. None of them are regrets, but playing rotationally I think I miss out on lots of the GT features. I have yet to see that blond babysitter NPC guy coming to stay. I like thecharacter values we got with Parenthood, but I can't remember what other major features that pack added. Packing leftovers to lunch bags is such a great idea, but I hardly use it any more. And, For Rent still makes me nervous for my 11 years old save, so I tend to avoid playing the rent feature to its fullest.

All in all, with a computer upgrade a year ago, I'm allowed to keep all the content even if only smaller bits adds to my gameplay.

If I had to lose one of the packs I own it would be City Living but I do use content from it, and sometimes attend the festivals, so it wasn't a waste of money.   Every pack I've bought has something I like about it, even if certain things don't always function as I'd wish (for example, Mermaids lack  content, and Get Famous can be buggy).  There are certain packs I will never buy though, because they just don't interest me, or I've heard bad things about them being buggy or not functioning well.

I did regret a few of the Sims 3 packs I bought in an attempt to reinvigorate the game (I'd gone back to 3 after missing features that weren't yet in 4, and ended up craving additional content after a while).  The packs I regretted were Late Night, Showtime, Into The Future (especially this one!) and some of the content I bought from the marketplace.  

I also very much regretted buying MySims Kingdom and SimAnimals (I think that's what it was called) when I bought a Wii and was excited to try all kinds of games on it.  I soon discovered that I disliked regular gaming on a console and only really liked Wii Fit and Wii Sports.

Knowing what I know now I wouldn't change a thing. I have my favorites but I manage to incorporate features from all packs in my gameplay. 💚