This looks like a pretty little kit. I really like those wall lights. I will probably get this one. I'm mostly a "fantasy" type player and tend to opt for more ornate decor in the builds I create for my active households, so I could see some of the items in this kit being things I'd use on a regular basis.
The first three kits didn't really appeal to me. I got the Country Kitchen kit because the aesthetic matched the look and feel I was going for in a rental/vacation house I built in Brindleton, but I haven't used items from that kit in any of my other builds (so far).
I passed on the Throwback kit. As someone who was in high school and college in the 90s, I was initially excited about the idea of a 90s themed pack because nostalgia...but for me, the 90s were about flannel shirts, combat boots, mosh pits, grunge rock, etc., so that one missed the mark with me personally. That said, the items in the Throwback kit DID remind me of some of the more mainstream 90s fashion I saw the "normal" people wearing back then, so that's not to say it was off base, just that it didn't resonate with my personal 90s experience. :)
The Bust the Dust kit was a hard no for me. In real life, I have an aviary in my house. That means I have do a lot more vacuuming and dusting than the average person does. I like to play Sims to relax and ESCAPE from reality. Spellcasters and "Scruberoo" for the win! :D (Side note, but I sooooo wish "Scruberoo" was an actual thing. Oh, what I wouldn't give...)
As for the kits themselves, I'm a fan of the concept overall even if most of the kits haven't appealed to me personally. They remind me of the TS3 store sets (I was a BIG fan of those), and I think they're a practical way to offer more niche items/features that might not be available otherwise...and honestly, the $5 price point is reasonable. I'm a developer/designer, and these kinds of endeavors take a lot more time and effort than most people realize.
Giving players the option to add new features/items without requiring a pack-level investment from the player and still being able to generate additional revenue isn't a bad model at all. It's kind of a win-win for the company and the customers. Players can get new content/features without breaking the bank and the company generates additional revenue. Business is business, and turning a profit isn't a bad thing. The more money a company has, the more employees it can hire (creating jobs is good) and the more products it can create and sell to continue creating those jobs in the future.
In fact (and all personal preferences aside), I kind of wish they'd introduced kits sooner. From a business perspective, it would have been a smart move. Kit sales could be a great way to gauge what types of content appeal to players most. $5 isn't cost prohibitive for most players the way some of the larger packs can be, so it's actually a better way to assess customer interest in themed content than pack sales are. Just because someone couldn't afford a pack doesn't mean they didn't want it. Revenue generated from kit sales could then be used to determine where to invest time/resources in terms of larger pack development to simultaneously increase customer satisfaction and profit, which is an ideal scenario that benefits both parties.
Anyway, . Thanks to the OP for posting! It's great to see what the new kit will be, and since the leak is from Microsoft, it's probably legit. Now if only we could get info about the next pack. I'm most likely going to buy this kit, but generally speaking, I'm more likely to buy packs than kits, so waiting for the new pack announcement is kinda killing me a bit. Won't lie. The struggle is real. :P
