Gonna do what RedSimmies did and just give my two cents on all the packs :P

University: This is probably one of my favorites. I enjoyed the whole University experience, and I liked the addition of Young Adults. Although I can see why others don't like it since it does take awhile (but I'm 90% sure there are mods to shorten it).

Nightlife: I like the cars, dating, new locations to check out, and the matchmaker NPC with her potions and shit. I don't like the chemistry or fury aspects though, since it interferes and messes with the way I want my sims' stories to unfold.

Open For Business: I consider this pack to be my #1 favorite EP by far. I loved running my own businesses and getting to hire/fire people. It also added some new stuff that I liked.

Pets: This one is definitely my least favorite. As much as I love animals IRL, I just couldn't really find myself enjoying owning pets. I liked the customization available for creating them, but that was honestly about it. They're really boring to play with IMO, and all you can really do with them is fill their needs and train them to stop digging in your yard and destroying your furniture. I never play with them, and they're just kind of useless to me.

Seasons: I really like the new gameplay that this brought, like skating and gardening, but the Winter season gets a little annoying sometimes when it starts to become intrusive in regards to how I want to play out my sims' lives.

Bon Voyage: This one is pretty weak IMO. The vacations get boring fast and it doesn't have that many items/clothes that I use since most of it is obnoxious themed things that you wouldn't use unless you were purposefully trying to make an Asian house, Tiki hut, or log cabin.

Freetime: This one is just kind of "meh" if you ask me. I like some of the new activities and things that came with it, but the main thing that I don't like is that the game randomly chooses what your sim's primary interest is going to be instead of letting you decide. It screws with what I have planned for my sims. For instance, if I make a sim who I want to be a musical genius who loves to play instruments but the game decides to make their primary interest "tinkering," it fucks everything up.

Apartment Life: Another "meh" pack. I like a lot of the clothes and objects that came with it, but I don't really use apartments that much since they're a bit too small for me. I played using one once and I quickly got annoyed with having to keep banging on the wall to make my neighbors shut up. I also thought that witches were an odd thing to lump into the pack. They seem kind of interesting, but I haven't ever really played with them since it requires a lot of work to become one and I just don't really care that much.

Family Fun Stuff: It's mainly the inevitable "things for children since they're always ignored" pack. Not much else to say. I use some of the furniture, but I don't really use the costumes. It's just okay IMO.

Glamour Life Stuff: It's mostly a bunch of tacky pretentious objects and clothing that I don't even use because I could find much better "glamorous" CC online for free. Thankfully, I never wasted money on this one and only got it when the UC gave it to me for free.

Happy Holiday Stuff: Ridiculous, tacky decorations galore! Seriously, I hardly EVER use the stuff in this pack unless it's the New Year's Eve fireworks (maybe? o-o). The decorations look so silly that even Santa himself would say they're a little too over-the-top. Would not recommend unless you're dying to build Santa's workshop or a themed house for the holidays.

Celebration! Stuff: Probably the first stuff pack I can actually say I use the stuff from a lot. I use the formal attire every now and then if my CC isn't cutting it, and it comes with a lot of nice party objects as well as some walls and floors I use a lot. It's not my absolute favorite, but it's a good pack nonetheless.

H&M Fashion Stuff: This pack is decent, at best. Some of the clothes are cute and I use them, but some of them are ugly and very dated-looking (not surprising since this came out in 2007). I don't really use the objects because they aren't useful unless you plan on building and running your own H&M with OFB installed (which I don't).

Teen Style Stuff: I really like the furniture that came with this pack. It gave some much-needed decor for teenagers, who were pretty much ignored in the past in terms of the stuff they got in EPs and SPs. I use the furniture a lot. The clothes are a little tacky for my tastes, but it's still a good pack.

Kitchen & Bath Stuff: Another pack I use a lot. I often use it when designing my kitchens (as well as my bathrooms, but mostly my kitchens). The clothing isn't exactly stuff I would constantly want my sims wearing, since it's mostly hair towels and bathrobes, but that's fine since this pack was meant to focus on objects anyway. It's definitely one of the better packs IMO.

IKEA Home Stuff: This is my favorite Stuff Pack, no doubt about it. I'm CONSTANTLY using the furniture when decorating my houses. It was the first pack to include some decent-looking furniture that isn't tacky and actually looks like furniture that I would use. Out of all the SPs, it's definitely the one I use the most. It comes in handy when you're running low on CC and you can't find any good furniture anywhere else.

Mansion and Garden Stuff: This one's OKAY, but it doesn't really have anything that I'm looking for since I'm not a builder. But I am glad I have it, since it means that I can install CC lots that make good use of the build mode objects that come with it.

Well that took longer than I expected. Sorry if I bored you, I get a little out of hand with my opinions sometimes

Wow, most people love Seasons. I guess I never really played around with everything that you could do in it. Maybe I will this time.
Speaking as of right now, my list is as follows:

1 - Pets > sorry, but I adore Pets. I think part of it comes from not being allowed pets growing up, or where I live now.
2 - Nightlife > vampires! And the whole downtown section is really cool.
3 - OFB = University > These two rank equally for me. I've probably played them roughly the same amount of time. My business failed, predominately because I was trying to do so many other things, and I think in Uni I just trailed off...
5 - Seasons > eh. I thought it was mostly just 'hey, rain, hey snow'. But now I think I'll explore each EP thoroughly.

8. open for business- I will say I havent used most of its features so thats why its so low on the list
7 .nightlife- honestly i find no use for this expansion imho, i think ive only been downtown once or twice. I do like the chemistry thing i think that gives a nice touch but other than that idk
6. bon voyage- Its very nice unless you dont have vacation days from your job
5. freetime- I like the fact that if you gain skills or get an interest in something new a sim will greet you and let you go onto there lot to practice that said skill, also love the new items! (favorite thing is ballet )
4. university- you are in university for a LONG while so that's a bit of a downside and if your like me your sim always has to pass finals with an a+ it gets hard. But that's the fun part! if your tired of your usual gameplay definitely get this.
3. seasons - I love love love seasons, it adds so much realism into the game! not a huge fan of plantsims but i dont mind them.P.S LOVE THE PENGUINS
2. apartment life- i literally use an apartment in almost every gameplay, not ideal for a huge family but nice to start off. Also the world it comes with is the only world i use
1. pets- Omg i love pets. i HAVE to get a dog when i first start my family its essential. And you just get connected to them like any other sim. When your pet dies you will definitely feel it. p.s werewolf is a nice plus! PP.S HAVE YOU SEEN A TODDLER CUDDLE A DOG

The sim does not, in fact, need vacation days from work to use the BV vacation. The vacation is treated like any other community lot visit - the family leaves for vacation and comes back on the same day on the home lot.

No use for Nightlife? You don't date your sims? I feel so bad for them! Outings also came with Nightlife - great way to keep up with your friends all in a bunch, and if you play multiple households for building connections between houses.

Uni doesn't take that long if you use community lots a lot. Skilling is enabled on community lots, so you'll find that also helps with the grades. But after you've played for awhile the grades get to be too easy, and then there's lots of time for parties and social interactions and dates and drama, drama, drama.

Explore more. Good to see Pets at the top of somebody's list - so many people were disappointed by it.

yeah i tend to stay on my lot
i thought you had to have vacation days or youd get fired sorry i wasnt sure
and no i kind of just use a premade sim to date my original sim... oh wow im boring! my sims are all living boring perfect lives XD
i really should go out more and use the date option thank you actually! and loved pets best one imo

seasons: really changed the atmosphere of the game by simulating weather. It made each day feel different despite the skill grinding and inevitable abandonment of that sim when we move onto the next generation of sim produced by that family... Also those season-oriented interaction bonuses and taking into account how juicing buffed sims was pretty accurate to some extent.

Freetime: it's seasons part 2 because they were so generous with Seasons! I didn't like being reminded of my sims constantly losing hobby enthusiasm though. They don't _not like_ a hobby anymore just because they're busy with something else in life. the DIY car is so much better than most of the NL cars at an affordable price.

Uni: after a few plays, YA takes too long, trapped with HW and schmoozing with unimportant sub-hood sims. They don't even keep what they earn when they return to mainhood. *Flaps sim arms* When do I adult?! I fast forward through YA to get that 9th level job immediately out of uni + early married, preggers, retired -- because at that point I'm tired of that sim.

NL: it should be considered base game part 2 because it's pointless to simulate w/o chemistry and going "out." I use DD (came with this and Celebration) and stopped playing with any other installments besides seasons, terrible. I know.

ofb: i don't like leaving my sims out on community lots out that long, let alone paying uncontrollable sims that are easily fatigued and have mood swings because motive decays fast. $ is not an issue in the sim world. the struggle for OFB career LTWs lies between maxmotives and using only your family sims. 1. You hate them less if they complain. 2. They complain less because you've worked on their skills. Good story building and something new to sims series

Least favorite was pets:
novelty. buggy. "I don't have pets in rl but love animals this is amazing!" "your pet sims will like pets too." They don't do much. Wait, they're all employable?! Cool, but what are we doing in sims that it's so hard to earn $? They had a good number of pet breed presets but the sliders were disappointing. the idea to play to unlock all layers/ patterns/ collars instead of getting the pet you want now made no sense -- a neon green and polka dotted pet is not better than a striped blue pet making this the least rewarding EP.

stuff packs are meh, I'm looking for interactions that feed the game experience, not hit or miss visuals I can choose to download at will on fansites. objects are already included in EPs however some of these caught my eye/ aided sim-story:
-family fun
-celebration!
-teenage style it's a dollhouse sim, it should be about them.

I used these the most:
-kitchen and bath
-ikea

underwhelming stuff:
-glamour life - it promised a lot of lux but highend is very achievable with decent build skills and downloading
IMO the clothes patterns were showy and most of the colors were not glam
-H&M it's probably just me, I didn't feel like H&M was well incorporated into the sim world.

Mansions and Gardens disappointed me. Crumpled and not finished, a lot of stupid things, not a single tree. Styles are good, but many do not have enough for a full set. Bright, colorful, interesting, but ... good-bye could make 100%
But overall, in every EP and SP to a lot of stupid and unnecessary things that do not even know where to use.

After finally playing all the EPs and SPs now for a couple of years (I'm a late bloomer past Seasons ) , I still think Seasons is my favorite. Even though snowing will still initially freeze my game for a couple of seconds, it's fun to see a change of seasons in my game, and change seasons around to match the hood.

I do like Freetime. All the silly details about the hobbies and the annoying pitches for the magazine ... meh. Those are a nuisance to me. I just like HAVING the hobbies; having more things for my Simmies to do.

I have trouble picking just one from this bunch: University, Nightlife (I can't imagine the game without driveable cars now), and Open for Business. They all tie for third. I'm wordy enough in my posts! Let's just say each brought some very different and enjoyable aspects to this game, and I can't imagine the game without them.

Bon Voyage, Egads. Bon Voyage. The start of the Suckyrom era, which still leaves a bad taste in my mouth. But it seems like one of the more-glitched expansions to me. Of the very few times really freaky things happened in my and my daughter's games (the Tour Guide calling my Sim or the Witch Doctor going for a stroll on one of my daughter's lots, for example) most have been BV-related. Coincidence? Maybe.

And then there is Freezy the Wonder-Housekeeper. Building hotels is quite the challenge because of Freezy who, just as you think your hotel is good to go, will often stand there like a rock until you figure out what's bothering this NPC, and that can take some time.

I like BV in terms of general gameplay. I really do. But this EP always concerns me a little. This slips into fifth because despite Freezy, I really do like building hotels. But barely over the next EP, which is

Apartment Life. Another EP that is really fun to play, but glitched as anything. CC mods have helped considerably, but it seems that every few times I'm playing an apartment, I have to fix something. Usually, it's a Sim that has moved on but doesn't want to leave (move_objects), or a stuck Sim or newspaper.

The witches and warlocks are nice, but EA, you COULD have made a new EP or SP and devoted more time and care to them, adding much more cool stuff! (Glowers at EA).

This EP had so much potential, but has so many problems. It could have used a few more months of troubleshooting. And I admit, this last EP makes me a little sad because EA could have done so much after this EP, but chose to try burying the series instead.

Pets. I write heresy, but honestly, I'm not a cat or dog person. Now if this EP did more with horses (like Sims 3) or much more than it did with birds (I like birds), or did a farm sort of theme, I would have moved this up to a clear second or third, glitches and all. And Pets also has lots of fun glitches. The one time my game had problems installing, it involved Pets. And I'm not a werewolf fan. If someone went up to me and threatened me to uninstall an EP or my real-life motives would forever stay red, it would be Pets. Sorry, Pets fans.

________________________________________________________

SPs

Favorites: Ikea, H&M (there are actually some nice clothes in this one) and Kitchen & Bath.

OK. but not great: Celebration, Teen Style, Glamour Life and Mansion & Garden. (Not really into Second Empire stuff, though the Moroccan and Art Deco stuff is nice.)

Not really crazy about: Family Fun Stuff and lastly, Happy Holidays (Santa and Baby New Year lose my interest after a while, and Santa can glitch and glitch badly, and it's a real PITA to fix).

I have all the EPs and most SPs but have never gotten M&G because of hearing how buggy it is. I do like it and would have gotten it long ago except for fear of bugs. But now I'm looking through some lots and there are so many gorgeous ones that require M&G I'm rethinking it.

Look at this gorgeous Victorian beach boardwalk lot by ruthless_kk, so pretty! I think those are M&G roof pieces though and it would totally crash my game if I tried it.

And Jo is killing me dead with all of her amazing lots, especially Magic Island.
Can I live without that? I'm not sure I can.

So just how bad are the M&G glitches? I wonder if all the problems I heard about were due to people not having AL, so maybe it's not so bad after all? Any input is appreciated.

What bugs? I've never noticed any, so it can't be that bad. You know you want the lot... *tosses in free cookies* :D

PS. If you mean 'features' like the sun salute and flower sniffing, there are mods for that.

Glitches I've heard about are sims disappearing, game freezing and old glitches that had been fixed in patches returning. I do have mods for the salute and sniffing - I already dl'ed any M&G mod I thought I might want in case I ever got it.

*munches cookies* But I do want the lot, I want ALL THE LOTS!!1

Ok, I'll pencil it in my Christmas list and make sure to back up just in case it gives me problems. Thanks for pushing me over the edge, Jo.

No, I've never had anything like that. I've had M&G ever since it came out and noticed nothing. Hadn't even heard of those things happening. I love M&G, it has the best plants. Hehe, no worries, I always push people to get it ALL

Favorite: Nightlife Because of cars

Least favorite: Can't remember which EP it is, but it is the one that created an army of townies. Every time I ran sims 2 another five townies were created. Those townies gave me nightmares! They were everywhere!!!

AL introduced social townies, lots of old ones. <_< That's why empty templates are a thing, install and walla! No townies.

I know, thanks. Initially it was a problem.

Speaking of AL, I'm considering removing it (as well as FT) from my TS2 setup. Other than the obvious stuff (such as apartments, hobbies, and witches), what would I be losing by jettisoning those two EPs?

Secondary aspirations, aspiration perks, the Newsons and Goodies, networking.

Out of those, the only one I really use is aspiration perks. The question is, is keeping aspiration perks worth keeping the nuisances that come with those two EPs?

I'm sure there's other things I'm not getting off the top of my head. Look in the EP guides, and look for mods that relieve the things that annoy you. At this point, anything that annoys anybody that can be modded out, somebody's modded out.

Ok, here's my list:

EPs
1) Nightlife: I love everything that came with this EP, from the disco objects to Mrs. Crumplebottom. I've been playing for a while without attaching any Downtown, but I've always used all the interactions introduced and the Dates; now that my game is stable and clean, I also make my Sims going to downtown quite often;
2) Seasons: it was quite hard to choose the best one, Seasons would have won if it wouldn't be for the heavy winters my SIms always go through. I love the Seasons and the way they affect the gameplay; now that I'm playing in RIverblossom, I'm also enjoying more harvesting and fishing. My favourite feature is the fall skill boost :D
3) University: not all my Sims go to University (usually only if I have too many teens to take care of), but I couldn't live without the carrers it introduced (and their rewards!).
4) Free Time: I didn't like the EP at te beginning, I thought that adding a completely new neighborhood was useless since the EP is more focused on new activities/interactions rather than new gameplay features. I love all of 'em, from sewing to play the violin, except for the sports related ones (never made my Sims play Football or Basketball, I even forget there're objects for those).
5) Apartament Life: I really like the idea of living in an apartment, and the related interactions are really nice. Never had the opportunity to undestrand how the social groups works, so everytime I use the "gesture" and "tell a story" interactions it's a boost; fair enough, I don't want anymore townies in my neighborhoods (thank God we have mods for all of them);
6) Bon Voyage: I like the 3 vacations places, but my Sims never go on holiday. That's it.
7) Pets: Same for BV: lovely cats and dogs, but I don't like having them at home. I wanna try again, anyway.
8) Open for Business: this is the worst EP for my gamestyle, everytime I've tryed to run a business I ended up using cheats and having Sims without family/social life. I appreciate everything that come with is EP, but the main feature it's no suitable for me.

Stuff Packs
I'm not gonna write any comment just because, apart from M&G and Happy Holiday, they just introduced objects and clothes. I'll put as first the one I use more:
1) Ikea
2) Mansion & Garden (not only the small features but also the wonderful roofs/outdoor items)
3) Glamour Life
4) Celebration!
5) Teen Style
6) Kitchen & Bath
7) H&M
8) Holiday Pack(s) (never use this, nor objects neither special interactions)
9) Family Fun

I am just writing best to worst
1. Free time
Honestly I love the items. I am fine with a new neighborhood because I rarely play in ea's neighborhoods anyway
2. Apartmentlife
More things to decorate and my sim is ever alone c':
3. Pets
I like giving elder and lonely sims a pet as company also to boost a bit of the social interaction.
4. Seasons. Winter. Summer. Green people.
You get the thing.
5. University
Though I hardly have gotten a sim through without dying... do I still have it fine
6. Nightlife
Cars.
That's all.
7. Bon voyage
I do use the furniture but my sim never go vacation. I would have loved a stuff pack with furniture from the whole world though.

Stuff packs:
1. IKEA
It looks modern
2. Family fun
My kids always have themed rooms c':
3. Teen style
I love personalizing teens
4. Kitchen and bath
More modern stuff
5. Mansion and garden
Idk
It is just there and I properly use stuff from it without noticing.
Rest
Holiday packs, glamour life, H&M, Celebration
What was this again? I properly used a bit from each without realizing but honestly... I don't really use them that much :/

My list of favorite expansion packs/stuff packs would look exactly like this! Only, I would place Seasons higher and university lower.

M&G stuff's "bugginess" is way overstated. I don't have any issues with it.

I like all the EP's, and "stuff" packs. They all add something to the game. Every little bit helps. The only thing I would've liked to see would be a "Back to School" EP. You can make your own, I did, but it's a pain to do! I actually have a functioning elemenary school, and a functioning High school in my "Simsylvania" hood (Go SIMBERWOLVES!). Unfortunately, I don't have that particular hood on my hard drive right now.

"Pets" is probably my least favorite, however, I'd miss it if it weren't there. My Sims play with the strays, then send them on there way.

I actually named my real (non-sim) kitten "Noodle", after a cat in the game!

Ranking my stuff packs and expansions based on ones I have. I own quite a few, and still do. Been playing about 9-10 years now, more or less, and I still love it and can spend an entire day playing. Without further ado....

EXPANSIONS:

1. Apartment Life: Yes, this has got to be my favorite of them all. My favorite part is the Witches, but I also like that I can give my Sims a place to live without having to spend crazy amounts of money on a small, dopey little house with whatever they have to start out with. Belladonna Cove is a cute little city, but I find the characters a bit dull (except the Cordial sisters).

2. Nightlife: This came with my game because I got Double Deluxe and I honestly cannot imagine my game without it for this purpose. I love that you can visit places, I love that you can customize community lots, I like that there are cars, and I love the attraction/dating system they put on it. However, I think the vampires are EXTREMELY campy. I even downloaded custom skintones and eyes to make them look at least a bit more "natural", but even still, I have no vampires in my game and I really don't see a need for them. I also like to let my older Sims die off like they would in the real world, not torture them by making them live for all eternity. One other issue is how Sims can get "furious" at each other... the developers could have made it more realistic. I can see being mad for a long time at a partner you caught cheating, but for watching them in their window through a telescope? Or for a date that just didn't go well? Please. No one spends a lifetime angry at that stuff.

3. Seasons: I love this because it gives a realistic feel to gameplay with the seasons. I also LOVE the gardening feature - I have tried to make an effort so most of my families grow their own food or fish near a body of water. Plantsims are also very interesting to play, I've had several in my game up until more recently. When I had Riverblossom Hills, I added more to it. I know the intention was to make it a "country village" but I felt it just needed... more. It looked so naked with all those farm fields laying about. One thing I don't like is that the seasons can be a pain to change if you suddenly feel the need to do so - if it is winter on a lot, the snow will stay there for a VERY long time before the new season takes effect. The leaves are also annoying in the fall, and I always hire a gardener or butler to come clean them up (or have a Witch do the spell to remove them). In summer or winter, you get dreaded heatstroke or freeze up. In my game, however, heatstroke is more commonplace, and I HATE when the children get hot because once the warning is up "cool them down or you'll get paid a visit from the Social Worker", you barely have enough time to comply. So, this sounds dark, but I use Rodney's Death Creator and just make the overheated kid die of disease. I've not-so-affectionately called this "heat disease". If you don't do this, definitely have the Secondary Aspirations on and select "Plead with Social Worker" as a reward to use and it buys you time.

4. Pets: I love animals, so, no surprise here! In the game though, pets are a blessing and a curse to be honest. They age at a different time than the Sims do - they age a day at 11am daily while Sims age up a day at 6pm, so it's something to watch. I love having a male and female of either cat or dog in a house so they can breed - if a family is poor, they can just sell the puppies or kittens to get income if their job isn't doing it for them. I don't like, however, when the dogs come digging in the front yard - it's a pain and happens a lot. Also, becoming a werewolf is VERY difficult without cheats. I've only had 1 (yes, 1) werewolf in my game, ever. Like the vampires in Nightlife, I don't really care for them much and don't ever intentionally make them if I don't have to.

5. FreeTime: This expansion I could do without, but one thing I really find useful from this expansion is the Lifetime Aspiration system and that you can get a Secondary Aspiration OR rewards that go with your current one. As mentioned, you can buy time from the Social Worker if your children are suffering heatstroke, and if you have someone with the Family aspiration or this as a secondary, you can select "Plead with Social Worker" and she will give you 24 hours (minutes in our time) to improve conditions and make it so your kid is at normal temperature. FreeTime's craft stations make it so, if you have OFB installed, you can sell goods in a business, which I find cool. The careers are also awesome and noteworthy, here. Other than that, it is somewhat boring - all it does is add objects and certain things that make the game easier.

6. University: Education is important, but this game is very unrealistic about its approach. First off, the life stage Young Adult is stupid - why can't they just have them play out the first 3-4 days of their normal adulthood in college (to represent the proverbial 4 years in college). The majors they have with the game are...bland to say the least. I downloaded a mod for more realistic majors for my game so I don't have to put up with premade crap. Also, if a teenager ages into an adult without college, they cry for like 2 DAYS of game time over it - really, Maxis? I also REALLY don't like the Zombies - we get it, you had to add another life state, but this is more for the people who use their games to make videos (Night of the Living Dead remake, anyone?). I respect my dead Sims WAY too much to just make them wander the earth searching for nothing but brains - I have no zombies at all in my game. Honestly, the only good things in this expansion are the Careers and the instruments they have available. I can definitely do without this expansion.

As for the stuff packs, I can DEFINITELY do without them, given I have custom content downloaded. Despite this, my top 3 are: H&M Fashion Stuff (good for OFB), Mansion and Garden Stuff (I love building my own houses) and also Kitchen and Bath Interior Design Stuff (remodeling is fun). My least favorite are: Family Fun Stuff (if I see one more dragon costume, I'll flip), Teen Style Stuff (except for Goth, the styles aren't really "real" - 'Elite' is Girly, and 'Thrasher/Surfer' makes no sense unless you're in Cali or something, like at least make it officially a Skater theme!) and Celebration Stuff (the decorations are so tacky and the wedding dresses are so tasteless).

Season has to be my favorite expansion pack...

Apartment Life is good but why did they lower the size of the font!!! (At least there a mod for it)

FreeTime is okay but it just felt bit pointless

Pets I just hate that expansion pack, I don't really get it. If can add wants & fears for pets then I might like it,

I just hate having dogs digging me f-ING house!