TBH I find this topic is a bit too broad for me to really have strong feelings one way or another.
In general, I do find it eyeroll worthy when a corporation tries too hard to market off of inclusivity but this is a game where you're meant to simulate life and its diverse aspects - so it makes sense. But there are many things I do feel like it's a bit too late to implement at this point. I'm sure the devs fully intend to keep making content for the game as long as they can, but I'm sure the moment Sims 4 stops making enough money it's going to be dropped like a hot potato--no matter what state it's in.
I really enjoyed the "gender customization and cross-dressing" patch, but to be absolutely honest; the cross dressing (or wearing clothes not made for the frame that it was designed for) is an absolute mess and while initially I gave it a pass cause I felt it was something they could tweak later down the line--but they never did. I adore the idea behind the patch but it's so messy that it's hard to appreciate it. And at times it's straight up annoying because a lot of items have been placed in the wrong fashion tag/category (it fits the style for sure but not the sim's frames) so you can't ignore it completely. That being said, I would never get rid of it--but it definitely needs improving or should've been implimented differently. I'm just not sure how that would be done.
I feel like a lot of the inclusivity focus is centered around CAS mostly cause a lot of the game is centered around CAS (and it is one of its strongest attributes + cheaper/easier to produce regularly then gameplay which is constantly breaking). Which isn't bad, but ultimately the other aspects of the game fall to the wayside because they end up getting neglected.
Ultimately, it's impossible to represent everyone or appeal to everyone, but you try to appeal to as many as you can. What's funny to me cause I personally find this game to be the least US-centric compared to it's past iterations, but there are many people who feel that the game is still too US-centric (which I'm not denying if it is or isn't). People have different views on what is needed in a game and so I feel like it ultimately will boil down to a battle of opinions.
But on a side note, I have to wonder if the model of the Sims' franchise is even realistic/feasible at this point. It's always been a glitchy series but now we're getting broken packs on release or packs break in like 1-2 months after release. I can't help but wonder if it's something that is due to how the Sims 4 is built/complicated code or if it's the "release a pack every couple months" business model that is the source of the problem. Part of me wonders if it would be healthier to have the Sims Store from Sims 3 instead but it's possible that it may not make a difference. Can't say for sure what the answer is, but I hope they figure it out by Sims 5 and are properly prepared this time because it doesn't matter what kind of game they make -- if they can't keep it operable no one is gonna want to play it.
