Personally I think the "virtual dollhouse" thingy is a thing of the past, Sims Original is a good example to me. I believe it is going to be everything about the previous games, incorporating certain things which I think is a good idea.
For now, I like the direction the game is heading. My problem is I will have 39 packs installed on my computer and while it is still performing nicely, knock on wood, I'm not sure how many more I can load on...not including the soon to be released farm living pack. :D