I started playing TS4 fairly recently, and am still playing only the vanilla base game with no packs. I've never played with cc. I've tried a couple mods, but decided not to reinstall them after upgrades disabled them.
I've been thinking about what packs to start with, and may end up getting one of the bundles that includes an expansion pack, a game pack, and a stuff pack, assuming I can decide which bundle to get. The problem is that there are SO MANY packs available now that it's hard to choose (and paying for all of them is not an option).
But the packs currently on my wishlist (based on forum conversations and a little of my own research) are:
Growing Together (EP)
Parenthood (GP)
Vintage Glamour (SP)
Moschino (SP)
Unfortunately, I don't remember exactly what was in each pack that got it on my wishlist, so I'll have to research it again. But for now, I'm enjoying playing my vanilla base game.