I adored TS3. Although, feature-wise, TS2 was the better game, TS3 was all that I hoped for in a Sim game. It felt like a living, breathing world. It remains my ultimate Sims game, to this day. Having said that, I have to agree with the OP -- TS3 is where it all began.
However, if the whole thing got kick started in TS3, the engine is running full throttle in TS4. In fact, the sound of that engine is so loud as to be impossible to ignore any longer.
For me, the difference with the TS3 store was that the premium objects were complementary. They weren't required in order to get the full experience. If you wanted a special pet bowl, yes, you had to buy a pack from the store. However, that food bowl wasn't essential when the actual EP already came with cats, dogs, rodents, lizards, birds, horses and all the accoutrements, including pet bowls. The pet bowl from the store was complementary not necessary. The pet bed from the store was complementary, not necessary.
On the other hand, with TS4, the SPs and GPs are necessary. That is, they are necessary if you want to have the same experience that you were traditionally able to have in the previous Sims games. In TS4, if you want the full pets experience, you need to buy the $40 EP, plus a $10 SP. That's $50 and still, you still haven't gotten birds, or lizards, or (hopefully) horses. How much extra are those going to cost? How much are we going to end up spending for the equivalent of the pets that we were able to enjoy in the previous EPs?
That is why the anger is at a fever pitch right now. Rightlfully so.
The OP is right, this all started with TS3. I wish that I had added my voice to the dissatisfaction back then. However, I didn't realize that it existed. I didn't know because I was too busy enjoying what I had. I didn't feel like there was anything missing, because, for me, there wasn't. In Pets, I had gotten everything that the previous Pets EPs had. In addition, I also got horses. That EP was a bonanza.
Now, there's a whole 'nother level of blatancy to EA's greed.
I really, really want that hamster because, to me, it's one of the multiple missing pieces to the puzzle. However, this is where I have to finally draw a line. I'm not paying another $10 just to get something that should have been included for my original $40. To me, the Vet career wasn't a worthy trade off for everything else that is missing.
