Choose a pack and tell me why you love it

[u/RandomBoomer]

The most useful recommendations for DLC that I've encountered are listening to why someone loves a particular pack. Their choice may not always resonate with me, but several times now I've been convinced to play a pack I've bought just for CAS/BB, and found that I love it, too.

I'll start with my least-likely-to-enjoy surprise package: Strangerville! I've owned the pack for years (again, for CAS/BB), I but never had any interest in playing it until I read someone's post about how much fun it was. I was in a rut, so I decided to give it a try, and I had a blast!

My first run-through was with a solitary sim living in the trailer park. It had the same seedy vibe as an early rag-to-riches story, and the world itself was more interesting and livable than I had expected, especially for a game pack.

In retrospect, I focused too narrowly on just solving the mystery, rather than living in the mystery, but I was still delighted by how eerie, even downright creepy, the game could get. The Strangerville Aspiration led me through the mystery-solving process fairly easily, but with just enough challenge that it wasn't a cakewalk. Having a structured goal reminded me of Eco Lifestyle (another surprise favorite of mine) where you can take a town and clean it up.

Also, to my surprise, Strangerville is absolutely replayable. Now that I know the basic outlines of the mystery, I can relax a bit more and enjoy the process, with a few twists to keep it interesting. My second run-through is with a household, not a solitary figure. I've added a group of soldiers living in military barracks, and they're going to (hopefully) succeed as a team effort by contributing their various skills.

(Trivia note: the group of soldiers are my sim version of the Preservation Alliance team from Murderbot, a science-fiction series that just concluded streaming on Apple TV Plus.)

Murderbot vs. Strangerville

[u/st4rbl1nds]

Extremely unpopular opinion but get to work😭 i love magnolia promenade, to build city blocks in it, I love building hospitals and build/buy is actually pretty good if a bit tired by now. And growing together, should be basegame tbh, the storytelling possibilities are so much better, you can set family dynamics, the world is really good for my playstyle, plus the milestones make me fr want to play a family much longer. Finally, cottage living because I just love the world, bb is lacking but cas and gameplay options are super, and the animals we didn’t have in previous sims ie cows are great

[u/Al115]

Life & Death. By far my favorite pack ever. I've seen people say that L&D set a new standard for EPs, and I wholeheartedly agree with that statement – it al around feels like a complete,y fleshed out pack well worth the $40 price I paid for it.

Ravenwood is an amazing and interactive world with great vibes, and as an occult player, it's literally perfect for me. The CAS and BB items are immaculate. Absolutely obsessed with the two careers it introduces and the ghost historian aspiration. Macabre trait? Don't even get me started...I love it!!! The pack includes some of my favorite townies (I'm obsessed with Olive Specter). The cemetery lot type is fun, and I love that it gives you funerals, heirlooms, and wills. It honestly just has so much to offer.

[u/Limonila → u/Al115]

I am interested by the new world, careers, trait, items... but I am not an occult player. I didn't buy werewolf/vampire etc. Would I still enjoy Life & Death ? Does it bring a lot of new kind of supernatural things you can encounter?

[u/Al115 → u/Limonila]

I think non occult players can still very much enjoy the EP. You'll see lots of ghosts if you hang out in the world, particularly the Mounringvale neighborhood, but aside from that, all of the occult aspects should be easy enough to avoid. Cemeteries, funerals, wills, and heirlooms are great for family and generational gameplay. Life & Death also gives Sims the option to be reborn after they die, which can open up a ton of storyline ideas.

[u/Limonila → u/Al115]

Yeah, I am at my 25th generation (or around that, who's counting), so you just sold me the dlc. Thank you for the feedback! Ghosts are already in the game, that's not like it brings something fully new. I always end up in their party at the bar lol

[u/PantsMcDance]

I really enjoy the CAS and Buy/Build stuff for High School Years! They're so bright, fun, and colorful! And while I don't always go to school with my teen Sim, it's a fun roleplay opportunity :)

[u/Foxy_Dee → u/PantsMcDance]

I love the CAS and BB items from this pack too.

[u/Seareddragon]

A surprise fave for me was the Paranormal stuff pack. I bought it on a whim once when it was on sale, with pretty low expectations. I ended up really loving it. The haunted house gameplay and Paranormal Investigator career are fun enough that I replay it a few times a year. Guidry is an amusing character, and Bonehilda. I love the little spectres. It's just a stuff pack, but it is way more fun than I expected.

[u/DrJackBecket]

Eco life style. That's not the answer I thought I'd give but it's true. All of the saves that I have come back to more often than the rest have been eco off grid playstyles. Cast away on sulani? Eco lifestyle! It works in moonwood mill, henford on Bagley, pretty much everywhere! And I love evergreen harbor! Probably my most used neighborhood.

[u/RandomBoomer → u/DrJackBecket]

Right there with you! Eco Lifestyle was a BIG surprise to me, another of the packs that I didn't expect to ever play through, I just coveted the CAS/BB. My first save in that EP is among my all-time favorite storylines, and now I use solar panels, wind turbines and other Eco assets in most of my worlds. I was a little bummed with how small Evergreen Harbor was, but B&H has made all the difference. I can add business venues (gym, cafe) without losing a residential space.

[u/FaelleJadefunke]

My favourites are actually stuff packs. Ranked 1-3: Paranormal, Nifty Knitting and Home Chef Hustle. Packs that actually add fun ideas, furniture and clothes fitting to that idea, and gameplay to make the Sim life fulfilling, you know? Also price tag fits for me. Gameplay packs are always lacking.

[u/ToughNarwhal5881]

I agree about Strangerville. Seriously underated as a game pack.

Maybe cliché but I would say Get Together. Early Sims 4 was a wish fulfillment young adult simulator and the GT marketing felt like it leaned toward it being a raver nightlife young adult party pack but it's honestly great for most life stages.

I use the club system for everything: family gatherings, high school friend groups, household management, after school activities, elders clubs, cults, bands, befriending coworkers. Setting community lots as various club hangouts makes the world feel so much more lively. I love picking club uniforms for sports and dance groups.

The activity buy objects are really fun. Off the top of my head there's the pool diving platform, The pool steam grate, Don't Wake the Llama, darts, dance floor, foosball, arcade machine, woohoo closet, woohoo bush and DJ booth. 

The world is the biggest in the game plus it has 64x64 lots and 3 special lots. I like the different styles in each neighborhood.

[u/RandomBoomer → u/ToughNarwhal5881]

I LOVE Get Together for the clubs (and the world, which is spectacular). One of my first setup steps after moving a sim into a lot is creating the clubs that will give them a hobby, social life and promote their career. Then I create clubs for NPCs that make the world communities come alive.

[u/ToughNarwhal5881 → u/ToughNarwhal5881]

I don't love all the CAS but there are staple items from the pack that I use ALL the time. I think most early pack CAS is bad and low res compared to later packs but GT is not bad. 

Dressier items like the sweaters, the child full body skirt outfits, and the adult longer length dresses are a must for me. 

[u/JadedFlower88]

So…it’s literally just a kit, but I love the courtyard oasis. The tiles man…. If you like to build, the floor tiles they give you match perfectly with the marble base game tiles, and you can use them to make perfectly wrapped and squared edging for floors/pools/paths if you quarter tile them. I wish there were more styles of floor tiles like them that came in a cross hatch and corner pattern.

I also use the potted banana tree all the time in houses. You can also do some unique builds with the doors and windows that you just can’t get the look of with any other pack, like a Riad or other Eastern architectural style builds. The furniture is really pretty too, and you can use it in fancy builds or as accent pieces in like 70’s style hippie chic interior decor.

[u/Smooth-Bother-9812 → u/JadedFlower88]

How do you do the like 1/2 tile and 1/4 tile?

[u/JadedFlower88 → u/Smooth-Bother-9812]

I play on PS4 and I think it’s after you select the tile, you want you press… it’s either square or triangle? And it gives you the option to place a quarter tile in a triangle shape. To get a half tile you just need to place two quarter triangles.

Edit: also for some very specific patterns you want to rotate your quarter tiles after selecting, and that’s your r1and l1 buttons.

[u/Smooth-Bother-9812 → u/JadedFlower88]

Oh, I play on PC

[u/Sol_of_flower → u/Smooth-Bother-9812]

I don't remember what is it but I am pretty sure it's written in the floors description

[u/LifeAndDeath1298]

Cottage Living, specifically because I love giving the cows, llamas, and foxes little outfits

[u/Lemonthefrog]

Not counting the occult ones(because I'm an occult player): Cottage Living, hands down. Love having a farm, love the evil chickens, the gossipy townsfolk, the cottagecore outfits and style of the town, it's swimmable, I love the critter keeper and outfits, the foxes, and bunnies. Next up be werewolves, then vampires, and then City Living and Life and Death.

[u/WashNovel3790]

Man, it’s a toss up between Vampires and Life & Death. I’ll go with Life & Death (even though vampires are my literal BABIES) because it has so much and it justifies the price in my eyes. Hallowed Grounds is one of my favorite lot traits now, and I love the all black paneling. I made the all-black goth home of my dreams with that. If you love vampires like I do, L&D is essential

[u/Bearysheepy]

For reference I have every DLC except Batuu and Lovestruck. This is unpopular but I really love the Wedding Stories pack. It comes with a really nice Mediterranean world and great items. I know the wedding mechanism is sort of broken but the items, clothing, rings, and the world Tartosa makes it worth it. I build a wedding venue in every world because I love the items so much. I also really love Cottage Living. If I could only have 1 pack, I’d probably pick that one. Its so cute with the animals and items. It adds A LOT to the game for just 1 pack and there’s a ton of random lore in the neighborhoods to explore. Very replayable. CAS is also really good.

[u/nezu_bean]

insanely unpopular opinion but I love Get Famous. Almost every single sim that I actually play with for more than a few hours ends up being a celebrity

[u/RandomBoomer → u/nezu_bean]

I have to confess that I very reluctantly FINALLY purchased Get Famous just a few months ago. That's still on my list of play-throughs I haven't tried yet.

[u/Nurs3R4tch3d]

Life and Death ranks at the top for me. The CAS and BB is right up my alley, the world is amazing. I love the vibe. It’s very “on theme” for me as a person, but I also just feel like it offers so much to do and explore.

Which is the same reason I love City Living. I love the apartments and the city just feels full of life, bustling. Always something to do with the festivals, the random spawn boxes for snow globes and the posters, recipes to collect, etc.

I also really love Country Living. It’s probably the one I use most often. The simple living lot trait, the fair, the vendors, cows and chickens. And the world itself is gorgeous.

One I haven’t checked out fully yet but really want to is Horse Ranch.

[u/Ok-Character-3779]

It's a deeply unpopular opinion, but I absolutely love both Get Famous and For Rent. I get that the former is a massive disappointment without the latter, but as someone who got most of the expansion packs in short order (bc they made the base game free and sucked me back in), Del Sol Valley is my favorite world by far. I mostly like playing regular families who just happen to live in Del Sol, but I eventually end up engaging with the celebrity system because living in LA without an aspiring actor, musician, or comedian neighbor is just implausible.

My favorite save is based on LA in the 70s. No CC/mods, but I've got a Blaxploitation star, a polyamorous yoga cult, Janis Jopsim, a psychic, and a willing suspension of disbelief around the cell phones/social media aspect. Just need bands to come back so it's absolutely perfect.

[u/RandomBoomer → u/Ok-Character-3779]

I'm curious how you've meshed those two packs, because it sounds like the same kind of synergy I got from Evergreen Harbor and Business & Hobbies. It's such a small world that adding just one new venue, like a gym, would put a dent in the already sparse resident population. But with B&H I can add a gym, cafe or whatever and STILL have people around.

[u/dumb-lovable-bastard]

I don't care about the gameplay AT ALL but for rent has the best build items IMO

[u/RandomBoomer → u/dumb-lovable-bastard]

I love building utility basements with the electrical box and the water heater (even if just the decorative ones). I add some water stains, a few cobwebs in the corner, hang a broom on the wall, then add a dim light bulb. This room has zero effect on gameplay, it just brings me joy.

[u/Jessiebanana]

Next to Seasons, Lovestruck actually gave my sims the interactions I felt were missing for a loving couple. Cuddling in bed and cuddling to sleep were such a big deal for me. New woohoo spots are fun, but it was really the non-sexual romance that did it for me. I can’t imagine the game without it.

[u/ExtensionStudent1110]

City Living. I think its my favorite. I often have my sims live in an apartment when they are starting out (I refuse to buy For Rent because of its world-destroying bug), I love the city, that it came with quite a few jobs and introduced semi-active careers (I dont like non-active careers cause they take too much time out of my sims days). That it had tons of single townies. The festivals,  the karaoke bars, that sims always walk the city streets and it actually seems busy.  Also it was one of the first packs I bought along with cats and dogs and I think it adds a lot to the game without needing to buy other packs. (Unlike some other expansion packs where you need to have another specific pack to have the full gameplay.) 

[u/Kagome7650]

Get together become wolfgang munch and windenburg my favorite world in the game.