Reading this post made me realize I don't play with any of those features you mentioned anymore and some, for example playing as a vampire, a veterinarian, or a business owner, I've not done at all. The only career I've consistently returned to over and over is the writer career; every other career I've played only once. I have places to rent in every town/world and my Sims do go on vacation but rarely ever visit Granite Falls anymore.
I stopped buying packs after Snowy Escape; I sent Sims skiing a couple of times and hiking once but became bored with it. I've been considering buying Cottage Living but not for the gameplay features, only for the land to build on.
The one thing I did do and enjoy the heck out of was Strangerville; not sure why I enjoyed it so much, perhaps because its quirkiness reminded me of Sims 2 and 3. I only played it through one time though but my Sims often live there because the world is so pretty.
So to sum it up, I'm not playing the game in its entirety and it hasn't aged well for me. I just recently started playing again after about a year long hiatus. Might not be the game's fault and could be entirely on me but it just doesn't "do" it for me anymore.
