Fun question! I think I may add a bit of preference info due to the 'way I play'. I generally play highly skilled sims that I've worked really hard to breed/develop. I then play them in large households most times, with goals in mind that provide me pushback, help me learn the ins-and-outs of a new pack, aspiration, career or skill, or some similar self-challenge. I have played so many hours (well over 10,000) that I tend to avoid some of the 'grinding' in lieu of leaning into goals for my pushback. So... my sims are wealthy, but they mostly work hard. Sometimes really, really hard. They work at big and small tasks because I am a 'type A' player, not to survive and pay the bills. They also have mad skills, and putting one or two in a new household, or being closely involved with anew household, allows me the option of increasing the skills, wealth, etc., of a newbie sim. With all of that in mind, some of this will make more sense:
- Seasons is a must-have to me.
- Vintage Glamour for the butler. Unless you have a tiny household, it takes a load off. I run moderate to huge lots and the only staff I hire is the butler (unless I have livestock on the lot). You don't even have to pay them if you get the 'free services' trait in Aspirations. They clean, repair, garden, sometimes cook, and I've even had mine help out a fair amount with infants/toddler care. They are not perfect, get underfoot sometimes, and their code could use some love, but I love, love, love butlers.
- Cats & Dogs (for most people, to get their dog or cat)...
- ...Country Living for me (we have rl chickens and I love the challenge and options that come with the pack). I usually have a small number of hens, one a golden hen and ask her to 'help', and get a mini-goat. The animations on the hens and mini-goat are adorable, and the mini-goat gives milk. I do hire a ranch hand, though, as I find the emotional maintenance of the livestock annoying, and I want to make sure I don't forget them & their needs. The ranch hand also helps around the house and yard. The llamas are a hoot, too!
- Tiny Living for the lot traits/perks. If I have a sim(s) I am planning intense skill-building for, sometimes I use a Micro Home or Tiny Home because they build skill twice as fast, and that is huge! I find that worth the whole pack. I've also built lots that were 'technically' a Tiny Home or Micro Home that had space for 8 sims on the lot to live comfortably. For instance, I did this to raise some of my SuperSims raising 2-4 from infancy, side-by-side, hitting milestone and building a traits lists about as long as my arm in the process for them. That was the hardest sims gameplay I've done, but doing a lot of it in a Tiny Home cut back on some of the pain of the grind. Again, a personal goal I wanted to try.
- I love Businesses & Hobbies. It allows me to run a small business off my lot in creative ways that allows my creative and skilled sims to run it together while raising a family, supporting each other, paying expenses and staying well ahead, and living their best 'full-house'/'it takes a village' lives. I normally keep at least one adult sim on the l lot all the time while raising a family, and this allows them to do so and still make money selling what they excel in.
- I must admit, I use some aspects of Crystal Creations in all of my households now to avoid death... most specifically the very frustratingly easy to occur one lately... death by laughter. Don't even get me started on my frustrations about that. I keep a charged 'cannot die' stone and a charged 'cannot die' ring in all of my adult sim's personal inventory. Almost always, if I notice before the shut down screen where grim enters, I can tell them quickly to wear that ring and drag their charged stone in the room next to them. Also, sometimes I've revived them by draging another sim's stone out of their inventory instead.
- I would buy the Spa Day pack again. My sims all love yoga. I also have them meditate and build the skill so they can teleport, which I use a lot.
I don't play much with the 'occult' sims/packs, though I have done all but vampires, all of my SuperSims are genetically died to those occult ancestors, and one of them in my current household is a fairy, so I guess I can't really say that. 😃 Anyway, aside from choosing a framework of packs that provides some things you'll use all the time (like what I mentioned above in my case), it's also fun to throw in at least one that is something you'll have some 'aside' fun with (like if you ever wanted to have the option to play with fairy stuff), go ahead and choose that pack! Happy simming! 🙌
