The Sims 4: Best to Worst

Great idea! I'm always interested to see what people like about the packs I don't own yet. I'll only give opinions on the packs I have. :)

Expansion Packs:
1.Get Together
2.City Living
3.Cats&Dogs
4.Get To Work

Why is Get Together my favorite? Because the addition of clubs is useful in countless situations. Regular club activities aside, I use the club feature to give bonuses to legacy kids building skills, gather "employees" to tend gardens or bake for a retail shop, and conduct birthday parties and weddings with much more control than the party system.
Why is Get To Work my least favorite? I LOVED Open For Business in TS3, but in comparison I find Get To Work has a massive imbalance between investment and payoff. I find it discouraging that I could spend 3 hours talking to a customer to sell an $8 cupcake, or a $3000 painting. It feels pointless to try to run a bakery when it takes the same amount of work and you get much less payoff. Don't get me wrong, I still love it, but running a retail store doesn't fit into every game or life style as much as the other expansions do.

Game Packs:
1. Parenthood
2. Outdoor Retreat
3. Spa Day

Why is Parenthood my favorite? I love playing legacies, and this game pack adds an incredible new level of interaction between siblings and challenge in raising children. It also enhances the leap ahead a sim can gain if they are groomed from a young age instead of created.
Why is Spa Day my least favorite? As the most recent pack I've purchased, I haven't been able to explore it fully yet. I'm not a huge spa person myself so I don't think my Sims will visit it enough to make the pack worth it's full price, but I love all the build mode items in this pack and the relaxing feel it brings to the game.

Stuff Packs:
1. Toddler Stuff
2. Holiday Stuff (free)

Why is Toddler Stuff the only stuff pack I actually own?! I find it difficult to justify paying just for "stuff" but as I mentioned above, I'm a huge legacy player and the base game is severely lacking in content for kids. I feel silly for giving EA money purely because they failed to add more variety in the first place, but at the same time I can understand since toddlers were added late.
Why is Holiday Stuff a favorite? I wouldn't likely purchase this pack if it had a price, but I do enjoy the additions in order to stage holiday chapters and events in my games. The gift tower alone is useful in so many situations!

@Karilan It's quite similar, but imporved in many ways. There's a lot more staff you can hire, a lot of costumers doing different things, a star rating and you can costumise the menu with any food you want, even food from other packs. You also get special critics coming to your restaurants from time to time.

@Karilan Yes, you can go for a cute family dinner or a romantic date. Fun fact: dates have different goals if you go to a restaurant.

Expansion Packs:

1. Get Together
2. Get to Work
3. City Living
4. Cats and Dogs

I put "Get Together" in the number 1 slot simply because Windenburg is probably my favorite world in the game and the club system and new social interactions add a little more depth to the gameplay. I think "Get to Work" is O.K. because I enjoy the Scientist career and the aliens, but the Detective career is mostly just fun when you play a bad cop and the Doctor career is...repetitive and dull. It's like they fully finished the Scientist career, but weren't quite done with the Detective and Doctor careers when it was time to ship the game.

"City Living" has karaoke, the S-Pop station, and normal game consoles, and the festivals are alright...when they happen at a time when your sims can actually attend. Half the time, these festivals pop up during hours when my sims have to be at school or work, and the other half of the time they're too tired anyhow because between work, school, and the neighbors never letting up with their constant midnight racket...Yeah, no. And don't even get me started on how whenever a festival is happening in your sim's neighborhood, the 3x super speed on your timer is automatically disabled...even though your sim isn't home and you don't care about the festival out in the street because you have other things to concentrate on with your sims! Oh, and the fact that we can't build our own apartment buildings...at all. It's not a terrible pack...but it's not all that great either.

As for , "Cats and Dogs", I don't have that one. For the bump in hardware demands it brings to the game, it doesn't seem to add much in terms of gameplay. We can't check on out pets' needs like we could in TS2, can't control them as playable sims like TS3, the Vet career looks like it's just a rehash of the Doctor career from GTW, the only pets this $40 pack adds are cats and dogs, and its only saving graces seem to be CASt for pets and the addition of another new full world. Not worth the money or the increased hardware demands for me at all. I mean, if a pack is going to bump up the game's hardware requirements, at least put a whole bunch of interesting activities and new functionality into it...

Expansions:
1. Get together
2. Cats & Dogs
3. City living
4. Get to work

Get together - can be a very handy tool for npc control and fleshing out my own sims. In fact, I wish it was more powerful, with more tiers for required skill levels, more types of prequesites (like "has been abducted", "has been to Sylvan Glades", "can pickpocket", "lives in Newcrest") and an option to continue the prefered behaviour also outside active club outings (for example for rival clubs the Renegades wouldn't stopp being mean to the Paragons when meeting them at the mall while the Paragons would probably consider being mean to the Renegades outside sheduled outings a breach of etiquette.)

C&D - I never expected to miss my virtual cats that much when I'm playing other households. The animations are spot-on as are the pet voices... miss real purring, but a human voice actor probably wouldn't be able to do that. Dog training looks interesting, but I haven't played with my dog much to judge. Sadly genetics are shallow, a solid cat bred to a pointed one should be able to produce a pointed one with the solid's color (f.e. chocolade point to solid black should be able to have seal point kittens instead of either black or chocolade point). Also I wouldn't have bought that without the control pets mod.

CL - apartments as well as the festivals disappoint. I already made over the lot next to the festival to flesh it out a little more, but I wish we could make them happen wherever we want. As a discount purchase it is okay and without aforementionmed mod CL would rank equally or above C&D.

Get to work - has little content I'm interested in, just the aliens and the sciency build/buy stuff, so it ranks lower than it probably could. Missed opportunity to do a retail and a space exploration game pack seperately.

Game packs:
2. Outdoor retreat
3. Vampires
4. Parenthood

Objectively I think Spa Day and Vampires are the best made packs, but Spa day isn't something I'm interested in and vampires too situational.

Outdoor retreat is as versatile as Get together as long as you do not run out of ideas what to do with Granite Falls. The world and furniture alone are worth the purchase imo. I also love how we can change the lot types and the bar night invites pull sims to Granite Falls for a short trip if we have a bar there.

Vampires is well done, allows for customisation of campires and other supernaturals (stretching a little, but possible). But in the end is only useful for saves where the supernatural exist.

Parenthood has an interesting concept, but the actual appliccation leaves a lot to be desired. Neutral parents with no traits from character values should be able to praise good and bad behaviour alike, only parents with positive reward traits should be locked from praising bad behaviour. Volunteering should raise empathy only for the sim who started it (in case of a minor dragged along by an adult the minor probbably only does so because they have to). Positive values increase is too quick, in reality scolding is more often met with anger or sadness than instant boosts in the desired quality. Value loss is insignificant in an unmodded game. Closing on a positive note I do love the phonecalls from school and the asking for advice feature (once unlocked via mod for the player to use - allowing that interaction for autonomous only was a uge slap in the face for no free will players).

As for Dine out, seems I get more out of Get to work, after all, because with GT installed I never felt the need to buy Dine out, too.

SPs: This is based on how frequently I use the contents
1. Always
Backyard stuff, Cool kitchen
2. Often
Romantic gardens, Luxury party, Spooky stuff
3. Sometimes
Laundry Day, Movie hangout, Toddler stuff, Kid's room stuff, Fitness stuff, Perfect patio
4. Don't own
Vintage Glamour, Bowling nights

Expansions
1. Get Together
2. Get to Work
3. City Living
4. Cats & Dogs

Get Together always seems to carry over form pack to pack with how the club system works, which is great honestly and I use the club system pretty often too. More places for my sim to go to, cafes with baristas, DJ'ing and a dance skill, walk in closets, sims being invited out to late night parties. This EP was really good and the CAS items were great with a balance of party type clothing to some rather casual Windenburg attire. I use a lot of clothing from CAS.

Cats & Dogs? Besides no minor pets like hamsters, birds, and snakes I feel a lot more could have been done with it. Animals are cute no doubt there, but it doesn't go too far past that. Wish you could do more with the training skill, especially like entering your pets into contests. I do like the option to be a veterinarian though I do wish there was also an alternate rabbit hole job for your sim to be able to do than having to buy a lot much like Get to Work in the retail part. Children can't walk dogs. :'( Like WHY not? Pet's EP for any Sims game always never had my complete interest. This one did and it unfortunately fell short. The CAS items were nice in this EP along with the hair but other than that and the cute factor of animals with the added world I'm just not livin' for this pack unfortunately.

Game Packs
1.Dine Out
2.Vampires
3.Parenthood
4. Spa Day
4.Outdoor Retreat

Just being able to customize restaurants to your liking and not even need to own it is great. A set dress code to whatever you want served at that restaurant. I found it to be a major improvement over restaurant features in the past. A good place to have family dinners, hang out with friends or a dinner date. Like that sims can invite you out on a date to a restaurant as well (they ain't payin tho. :# ).

Outdoor Retreat? I liked all the CAS items to what items came in the pack, but there isn't terrible too much to Granite Falls. It's a very pretty place, but what you can do in Granite falls you can also do elsewhere with items in the game. Sleeping in a tent, using bonfires and fishing. A change of scenery is always nice, but besides sims swatting away at bugs, creepily dressed sims in bear costumes looking at you with a dead stare in their eyes there isn't too much else. So, my sims rarely go to granite falls at all. Wish they could go and get lost exploring the woods, bears attacking them rather than they just getting pretty tense around the 'bears', getting poison ivy, etc. Also, there were oddly no sleeping bags. Weird that there wasn't.

Stuff Packs

1.Backyard Stuff
2.Kids Room Stuff
3.Toddler Stuff
4.Movie Hangout
5.Vintage Glamour
6.Luxury Party
7. Perfect Patio
8. Cool Kitchen
9. Bowling Night
10. Romantic Garden
11.Spooky Stuff
12.Laundry Day Stuff/Fitness Stuff

Just love the over all summer vibe for this pack and CAS items as well. I use them and the hairs pretty often from this along with the table that can have six chairs. I tend to use them as pools or restaurants outside. Then the tray of drinks you can mix lemonade or tea in is nice as well as the wind chimes.

Kids desperately needed items and this helped fullfilled that and actually have my child's room look less dull not to mention more stuff for them to do via the void critter item and the puppet theater. CAS had a nice variety of clothing for them too. Same goes for toddler stuff. I really love the toddler slide so much and need more playground related items for them and children.


Could not decide between Laundry or the Fitness Stuff Pack? Would have been Spooky pack since you only use that once a year much like the Holiday pack. But, even with decent CAS items and furniture I'm still not more than likely to have a washing machine on my sims lot. Stuck a clothes line and wash bucket on a sim that stayed at a trailer in oasis springs and they only ever do laundry once a week. All the decor and cas are nice. It's just a pretty moderate pack nothing special. So moderate it's pretty boring really.

Fitness Stuff? We already have so many versions of a punching bag, treadmill and what not since we got that in Spa Day. Why would I need more of the same thing just a different model? Same with more exercise related clothes and spandex we got from spa day. Exercise bike, chin ups, actual weight lifting and hiring a personal trainer. Stuff we don't have would have been great. Ear buds, climbing wall and a exercise channel just isn't enough incentive for me to grab this one still.

Expansion packs:
1. Get To Work
2. Cats & Dogs
3. City Living
4. Get Together



Game packs:
1. Vampires
2.Parenthood
3.Outdoor Retreat
4.Dine Out
5.Spa Day


Stuff packs:
1.Vintage Glamour
2.Kids Room
3.Toddler
4.Fitness
5.Perfect Patio
6.Backyard
7.Movie Hangout
8.Laundry Day
9.Spooky
10.Cool Kitchen
11.Romantic Garden
12.Luxury Party
13.Bowling Night


I like all the packs in one way or the other -so I chose them in the order of getting the most use in my own game.

I do have a top few favs - like Vampires, Vintage Glamour, Kids and Toddlers stuff , Parenthood and Outdoor retreat (for now anyway seeing it is our only vacation pack thus far, and my sims like going on vacations in all the Sims games.

I use the eps equally pretty much - so I like them about the same - each has some pros for me (and a con or two as well).

It's not on here or anything - maybe because it was free - but I really enjoy the Holiday pack - especially the new Diwali things. Also the regular holiday decoration is always fun too.

Expansion packs:
1. Get Together
2. Get To Work
3. City Living
4. Cats & Dogs
My list doesn't mean that I dislike Cats & Dogs. I do very much like it. I put them in order of how much I use them in my game play. I'm also a slow (but thorough) explorer so this list could actually be grouped differently in a year or so. I have Get Together first because I love that world and I use the club system. Get To Work second because I'm a creepy player and love using the Scientist/Alien aspect of it... if I could only get one EP it would actually be Get To Work but I know some of the other careers are lacking so it's second. City Living I'm still exploring but hate living in the apartments.. it's also the only place my sims freeze up if they are actively living in the apartments. I do really enjoy going to the city though on my country sims and it gives me no trouble if I play with it that way. Cats and Dogs is only last because I haven't explored it much.


Game packs:
1. Outdoor Retreat
2. Dine Out
3. Spa Day
4. Vampires
5. Parenthood
I play a lot of single sims and I favor the game packs that cater to giving them things to do. I also can't wait for Witches and at this point the only brewing, storytelling and nature centered living comes from OR. The Hermit's lifestyle attacts me also.. go figure considering my handle on the forums. I think possibly Vampires and Parenthood were better done packs quality wise but since I rarely bring up children Parenthood isn't played with much. I still haven't played a vampire for long in this game. I need all the packs however for furniture and added gameplay/animations worlds ect... (NEED)

Stuff packs:
1. Vintage Glamour
2. Perfect Patio
3. Bowling Night
4. Movie Hangout
5. Laundry
6. Romantic Garden
7. Backyard
8. Cool Kitchen
9. Luxury Party
10. Fitness
11. Spooky
12. Toddler
13. Kids Room

Same reason as before it caters more to the types of sims I play. Vintage Glamour has a lot of unique high end furniture so it rounds out when I need that and a butler in the game. Perfect Patio .. hottub. Bowling Night.. still enjoying and unique furiture and clothes. Movie Hangout just because of the channels. Laundry is working in to being part of some of my sims lives. Romantic Garden has the radio station I need. Luxury Pack has the buffet tables I need. The rest I use as needed.. some I've slowed down use on. I don't play with kids much though so I could have stuck with base game stuff for them. Again other than the kids stuff I use all the clothes/furniture ect from all packs.. even spooky.

xpansion packs:

1. Get To Work
2. Get Together
3. City Living
5. Cats & Dogs

Game packs:
1. Vampires
2. Parenthood
4. Dine Out
5. Spa Day
6. Outdoor Retreat

Stuff packs:
1. Vintage Glamour
2. Romantic Garden
3. Laundry Day
4. Bowling Night
5. Perfect Patio
6. Movie Hangout
7. Backyard Stuff
8. Cool Kitchen
9. Luxury Party Stuff
10. Kids Room
11. Spooky Stuff
12. Fitness Stuff
13. Toddler Stuff

"LeGardePourpre;c-16289450" wrote:
Expansion Pack :

City Living

Get Together

Get To Work

Cats & Dogs


I've got Pet & Business allergies since The Sims 2.
About Active career, I work enough in real life, I don't want to work in a video game.


Game Packs :

Spa Day

Parenthood

Vampires

Dine Out

Outdoor Retreat


Still Business allergy but I like to visit the restaurants.
All the GPs are very good but only Spa Day added several activities and a group activity: Yoga lessons.


Stuff Packs :

Spooky

Kids Room

Fitness

Perfect Patio

Backyard

Laundry Day

Vintage Glamour

Movie Hangout

Cool Kitchen

Luxury Party

Romantic Garden

Bowling Night

Toddler


I dislike Toddler and Garden themes.
And I don't like to play cooking, my sims only eat pizzas or go to the restaurant.

Bowling like The Sims 2 isn't fun, it missed "social" interactions.

Just in case you didn't know the Luxury Party pack supplies banquet tables that provide food and different types of drinking fountains with out your sim having to cook or do anything - comes in handy for parties and group gatherings. My sims use them when they throw Costume and pool parties. Lots better done in Sims 4 than in any other sims game. I also set up a table and a drink fountain at my teen hangouts too. Teens love it.