Our woes in this department likely stem from the original online version. In an online game your sim/player character merely interacts with the given world. No building is possible (as least in the ones I've been to) because the world must remain the same in order for the many players that come and go at any time to have the same gaming experience in terms of where they can go and what they find when they get there. Stability and continuity are first and foremost. Yes, the game is now offline, but the roots are still there and show in the paucity of lots, the massive amount of scenery, the still limited tools, and all the rest of it. The game, unfortunately, is Sims the movie by intent and design, interactive to be sure, but still just a movie. Real and meaningful change demands a new game engine on the order of a modern version of what we had before. That is not happening in TS4.
