Actually I am fine if they will recycle content from the other pack as long as its not the main focus of the pack. We already saw the hot tubs in past games being recycled with just new style, but like I said I am fine with it since there is many more things that I can look into those packs other than that. What I don't agree with is when a pack is full of recycled content and nothing is new. The biggest example is City Living. Now I will start by saying I like it.
Based on the gameplay it offered it made me feel that my sim is actually living in a city. However the problem is its full of recycled content. No new gameplay mechanics. They didn't even bother doing a proper eating contest with Spice Festival. Romance Festivals would be awesome but there is no new things there other than rose petals and the random romance guru. There aren't even new social interactions,(well actually there are but they are just base game animations with new label).
Apartments are nice but when the apartment itself are full of redesigned base game objects then it wasn't that great. It is the perfect pack to put space saving furniture and the only thing that we got was the space saving desk. Where is the other space saving furniture that fits the "Apartment theme" of the pack? Granted its not the focus of the pack but they should atleast prioritize gameplay over the looks. If they think that the pack is too big to begin with especially with their budget, then they should have first created easier and less complex expansion pack than this, so when they create this pack in the future they will have a greater budget, because lets face it, with the huge booming sales of Cats and Dogs, its obvious that EA will increase their pack budget. I remember Late Night was a huge money maker that EA didn't expect it to be, which is why when The Sims Studio ask for help for creating expansion packs they are given a second team.
