Vampires is my favourite pack, but then I love vampires. I don't personally want to turn occults off, but I understand that some simmers would appreciate the option to as not everyone wants supernatural/occult stuff in their game. I do sometimes like to play 'realistic' stories too, but find if I just ignore Vlad the first time he calls then it's like the vampires aren't even there. Anyway, to answer some of your questions, as far as I'm aware you can grow vegetables and plants in Forgotten Hollow despite the poor sunlight. One of my households previously lived there in an old cottage with a lovely little garden and greenhouse. I find Forgotten Hollow eerily beautiful and I love hearing the wolves howling in the distance. The only thing is it is quite dark and gloomy as you are aware, and Vlad's manor has graves around it which means it only suits certain lots. I also wish it was a bit bigger, but it is a fair size for a game pack. The vampires are of course the biggest draw of the pack and are really well done, but I also really love the CAS and build objects and use them a lot since I love the Victorian style. I have a lot of fun with it and I hope you do too. :)
