1. What was your favorite pack released this year and why?
My favorite pack released this year is without a doubt Parenthood. I love it solely for the fact that it allows my sims to shape their kids up to be however way I want them to; it makes for some great character development - something that I haven't seen before in the sims franchise - which I can revolve my stories around. I also love that the effects you have on your kids aren't too obvious and in-your-face when they grow up; as this subtlety allows me to imagine that past parental guidance is something which they internalize passively, as opposed to something that shapes them up to be clear-cut stereotypes. Add to the fact that I pretty much revolve my entire game around family play; which alone makes this pack a definite game-changer to me; and I absolutely cannot imagine playing without it.
2. What was your favorite free update/challenge?
To be honest, I can't really recall any other noteworthy patches other than the toddler patch lol :D I'll never forget January 12th - the exhilaration and excitement when I first loaded the main menu. When the pop-up came up saying that toddlers were added, my first thought went to the entire simming community, and all of its' fans that have been asking for them since day one. I can only imagine how many prayers were answered on that day; as well as the relief on the devs' part. Of course, I myself was super excited about the thought of finally having these tots in my game - as a hardcore family player, the lack of toddlers was the main thing that put me off of the game at first (despite still managing to enjoy it), and the addition of them felt like it filled up this large hole which I'd constantly felt was in the game. Not to mention they were done extremely well too - far better than what I've expected of them.
4. What would you like to see next year (if you're being creative, think outside of the box, beyond Seasons ;))
The main thing I want to see next year are tweaks to the emotions system. The way I see it, the emotions system is a feature that has a lot of potential, but is ravaged by faulty buffs. First things first - the amount of 'happy' moodlets have to be lowered down; there are simply just too many of them; which contributes to the whole "happy happy lala land" impression/complaint many have of the game. Some of them are just downright unnecessary - "new fridge", "pretty tasty" and "good environment" being such examples (as well as many more that I can't recall right now). Then there's also the issue of negative moodlets not having much of an impact (not helped by the fact that there are generally fewer of them). To make things more realistic and immersive, the most impactful negative moodlets (such as those that have to do with break-ups, jealousy, death, enemies etc.) should have an effect of +10 or higher to ensure that the positive moodlets never override them and spoil the mood, and the duration of these moodlets should be set in a way that can outlast any other moodlet (as realistically such moods tend to be rarer but last a lot longer). That, and they should be able to be boosted by uncomfortable moodlets as well, much like the way positive moodlets are boosted by 'happy' ones. I would love to one day wake up to an update that finally allows me to put a stop to these constantly smiling sims without the help of mods, much like how I had loved waking up to that toddler update.
Besides that, I can't really think of anything that I really, really want to see. Maybe a patch to add more features and improve existing ones in GTW (as that's the only pack I've purchased so far that I've been disappointed in), but I suppose that's wishful thinking at this point.
5. What was your favorite sims moment (did your favorite sim get married/have babies... find a cool challenge? made cool cc? upload a video you love?)
Oh, this one's easy - when my sim woo-hoo'd with Don Lothario, and he (Don) peed his pants immediately right after that. Good lord that session must've been intense. Hope he didn't break his pelvis after that.
6. What was your least favorite pack released this year and why?
...This is honestly a hard pick for me considering DO and Parenthood are all I've purchased this year :D But if I've gotta pick one, it'd probably be C&D. Not as my least favorite per se (as I haven't even played it obviously), but probably the one I'm least interested in. It's probably because I'm just not really an animal person; added by the fact that the gameplay style isn't one I'm really interested in seeing as the pets can't be controlled.
7. What do you hope to accomplish in the new year (will you try a new challenge?)
Make it to 4000+ gameplay hours >:) (I have 3000+ clocked in right now :D )
