What exactly is 'Generations'?

Wow, thanks for all the info. So there is a lot more to it than just a 'family' pack. Interesting. I was a part of Sims 3 life but I was a late bloomer to it and really didn't have many of the packs. At first I was thinking from the descriptions that Generations was a lot like Parenthood, but there is a lot more to it.

It seems like the older versions of sims used to be more creative and fun, but now it's all a cash grab.

Just to be clear, Parenthood is not TS4's version of Generations. The devs know this as well, at least Ninja does.
https://twitter.com/SimGuruNinja/status/1296096471108878338

Also, Generations was made in response to the criticism of players wanting more family play and things to do with life stages that wasn't young adult and it added something for ALL ages, including babies and separated the young adult and adult life stage, and hit on many events in a sim's life growing up, like learning to drive, going to prom, getting engaged and married, having a midlife crisis, etc.

Generations coming to TS4 absolutely would not be the same thing and wouldn't bring everything from TS3's pack over. Maybe we could see bunk beds, prom, and body hair return. A lot of people are hoping that the pre-patch for this type of pack would update babies in some kind of way and maybe we could get stuff to make cute little nurseries. But the biggest thing is to be a pack to add gameplay and meaning to every life stage.

"BariSaxy;c-17713865" wrote:
That's a really good question. People have these big dreams of a Generations pack fixing all kinds of those deep problems in The Sims 4, but... You have got to get down to reality and remember The Sims 3 Generations. While what it added was pretty neat, it was a tiny EP that did not add a whole lot and most certainly wasn't worth the asking price. Now if you realize that content amount in each pack has decreased versus The Sims 3, you should not get your hopes up for Generations at all.

It actually added a lot of things. It just wasn't objects but meaningful gameplay. Sometimes it's not about how much a pack gives us in gameplay objects but how much it gives us in gameplay and generations added a whole new level of gameplay. Don't get me wrong it came with tons of new objects for kids, teens, and elders too. Generations is probably more expansion material than half of the sims 4 expansions which feel empty.

"Movotti;c-17713394" wrote:
Similar to parenthood, but with more for elders too.

Parenthood was about raising your kids and being a parent. It fleshes out the life stages sure, but the over all goal is being a parent, most of the gameplay is done by parenting.

Generations fleshes out the stages with things like prom, learning to drive, acne, canes, pranks, imaginary friends etc .

I hope they do generations and do it in a very family oriented sense. I want family reunions, better family integration of hosting events (not just household), family members coming to visit randomly and regular family dinners. I want the elderly sims to teach the younger ones about family traditions/values and have family story times that makes people feel proud about their family. Honestly i dont care much for the treehouse and imaginary friend, i already did that in ts3. I hope for a more immersive family system

"ktalexander;c-17713435" wrote:
I'm curious if it made relationships between grandparents and grandchildren more meaningful. I have a really famous grandfather sim and he refuses to acknowledge his grandson! Loves his non-famous son though!

Acknowledging the grandchild focuses on the fact he's that old. Celebrities, or at least some of them, can't stand the notion of getting older. LOL Of course there are everyday individuals with the same problem. My second cousin, once removed had to call her grandmother Duchess, because she couldn't handle being called grandma. Oi!

"GalacticGal;c-17718615" wrote:

"ktalexander;c-17713435" wrote:
I'm curious if it made relationships between grandparents and grandchildren more meaningful. I have a really famous grandfather sim and he refuses to acknowledge his grandson! Loves his non-famous son though!

Acknowledging the grandchild focuses on the fact he's that old. Celebrities, or at least some of them, can't stand the notion of getting older. LOL Of course there are everyday individuals with the same problem. My second cousin, once removed had to call her grandmother Duchess, because she couldn't handle being called grandma. Oi!

I have a sim who is friends with his two oldest great-grandchildren(he's also a celebrity). He has a high-level fitness skill so he'll be around for a while longer. And my sister wanted her daughter to call our mom Nona, Grandma in Italian, but my half-brother's three kids call her gramma-gramma, so she didn't think it would be fair to my sister's daughter if she called our mom something else.

"AthenaOnyx;c-17719071" wrote:
It's the only pack I disabled. Mostly it disrupted the story going on in my head. I got annoyed by the psychic arresting my teens and children after dark. If I wanted them to out past dark then that's my business. I got annoyed that the game would decide it's time for a prom or a graduation and then all my sims were whisked away for a rabbithole ceremony that left me out in the cold. I got tired of hearing the toddlers sing to their dolls and dress up like kings, maybe that's cute once in a blue moon but they just did it all the time. I'm not sure why I bought parenthood, it seems like it added was the pleasure of having to spray for monsters before bedtime, but I haven't deleted it yet.

The only thing I missed after disabling the Gen pack was one hairstyle and the tree house, but everyone seems to like it.

Monster under the bed was added in a patch, not a pack, and it can be disabled by purchasing a night light. A lot of people seem to hate it, but it's realistic to me.