What was your first game in the Sims Franchise?

I was very late to the gaming scene. I didn't begin to play, in earnest, until the summer of 2005, when I was 50 years old. As for the bonus question, loving Sims2 the way I did, and it being my first real gaming experience, I would have to say, yes, I did think the next iteration of this game would be all the better. In my naivete I truly thought EA/Maxis would expand upon the best of Sims2 in ways I couldn't even imagine. Had they given us Sims2 with the three life-range options, I would have been ecstatic. While Sims3 had many things I liked, it was also fraught with problems. Basically, the game engine appeared unstable. I play on a gaming rig and had problems with it, even after that one was replaced by the one I have now. I still had problems. The only remedy was loading it up with NRaas, Industry mods. Bless Twallen and his talent! I did learn not to remove Sims3, until I was pretty well certain I had no need to go back to it. The Sims, themselves just were on the blah side of things. Not at all the zany, lovable, hysterically funny Sims from Sims2. We gave up too much for that wonderful open world. I like the Sims in Sims4 better.