I agree with you @mcorral . I've been so bored with this game since it came on the scene that I now exclusively write stories with it and build. Anything else bores me. Not so with the other versions. I loved playing my sims. The immersion was fun. I didn't have to check off boxes to have my sims have a good time. Everything feels like sidequests now from my rpgs. I love my RPG games but they give me REALISTIC GORGEOUS features (like Skyrim and FFXV). I have fun battle game play to offset. I came to the sims for a different reason.
So...I'm in the middle of playing Strangerville and I'm bored already. Since my sim constantly has to go places to find stuff/clues, I have to wait while it loads since there's no open world. I hate it. Once something changes, I do get a thrill and I like it, but it takes so long in between. Ugh. But I must say, I do love the backdrop. I'll be playing in this world for my stories. WIthout stories and building, I'd be checked out of this game a long time ago.