From favorite to least favorite. :3

Seasons - Usually I get really bored after two sim days, since everyday was the same. But now I find myself playing for 5 or more since the weather makes everyday seem different. I just tried gardening, and it's very fun! I love the outerwear, and the season bonuses, like learn faster in fall, make friends faster in summer. Leftovers are a life saver, and I still need to try fishing. And jobs! Yes new jobs!

Pets - I was really worried that I would hate it, and almost skipped it all together, but I love it! Single sims are much funner to have now since they can have a pet. :3 And they can have jobs and earn money. I don't use accessories, so the blinking is not a problem, and my sims never seemed to be obsessed with pets in the first place.

Nightlife - close tie with pets. The dating game is really fun, and I often use it to engage my sims. I love the cars, and the clothes that came with it are really cute! I often find myself using them. And it's easier to get sims to fall in love now.

Uni - I haven't played the uni part in a while, but I found it really fun. o_o; I love the instruments and the treadmills. And that's about it I guess. o.o; I had it so long I forgot what came with it...

Open for business - I have yet to open a business. o_o; the clothes are awesome for doing the asylum challenge with though!

I'd also like to mention - since my previous post I've gotten the H&M stuff pack and installed Glamour Life. I LOVE H&M! The clothes are mostly awesome - there's a couple sweater dresses and stuff that are really weird but mostly they're practical or funky 80'sish and I adore 'em. Definitely my favourite stuff pack. I reinstalled without Holiday and I don't miss it at ALL.

I barely play the game at the moment (blame it on contests :D) but I own all EPs and only have the Glamour stuff pack installed. I recently got Family Fun, Celebrations and H&M but they're not installed yet.
I'm not the one who expects too much from the game but I'm often happy with what I get. Well bugs don't make me happy though.

What is your most favorite/least favorite expansion pack, and why?
My most favorite EP is Seasons. I just love all the effects and the new interactions.
I guess Pets is my least favorite EP. I enjoy them but they add very little to the game play.

What is your most favorite/least favorite stuff pack, and why?
The only SP I have installed is Glamour and I like it.

If you could rank how much you like each expansion or stuff pack in order, what would your order be?
1. Seasons
2. Nightlife
3. OFB
4. University
5. Glamour
6. Pets

If you had to remove an expansion, which one would it be, and why?
I'd rather play the game with at least all EPs installed but I think that I won't miss Pets.
Pets are cute but they're not essential.

My opinions are as follows. The two on the top are way above the rest 3 of which order I'm not 100% certain.

1. Seasons - It really makes the world feel more alive. A good expansion at any counts. Awesome main feature: weather and seasons. Excellent other stuff like gradening and fishing minigames, leftovers, interactions that make the outdoor areas more meaningful and so on.
2. Nightlife - This was easily my favorite before Seasons came out. The turn off/turn on matching game and new system for going to community lots with friends, dating, new aspiration(s). All very good. Cars are really handy and vampires are probably the best supernatural creatures even if they could have been done better.
3. Pets - The main feature is a bit dissapointing for sure, but the expansion is not that bad IMO. Mostly harmless, I'd say. I don't get all the hate.
4. OfB - It is a pretty solid expansion, but I don't really enjoy running businesses. Maybe I should try more home businesses as going to community lots frequently annoys me. Non-universal time and all that. The craftable items are pretty meh. The robots especially are dissapointing.
5. University - The main feature is quite boring most of the time. What saves this EP is some of the items are really great.

I don't have much experience of stuff packs to have a very useful opinion, but Glamour seems best for me.

If I had to remove an EP, I'd probably remove OfB. I could do without that. Pets is not that critical either. Uni has some items that are just too useful. The cell phone especially.

Edit: Bon Voyage - Not sure where exactly I'd place it on the list above. Probably just above or just below the Pets. It's middiling EP. Once more the main theme is uninteresting, but it adds lots of other stuff that makes it worthwhile. Beaches, jewelry, and some nice vacation lot themed stuff that can be used in ordinary lots and sims, for example. Also I like how the time is universal in the vacation hoods. Makes going to community lots less annoying.

Edit2: FreeTime - Oooh, this is a good one. Wedges Nightlife off from its second best position... So now its Seasons, FreeTime, Nightlife, and so on. Adds lots of interesting stuff that you don't have to go to community lots to enjoy. No good creature maybe, but that's okay.

Top 3:
Seasons
Nightlife
University

All three of them are necessary to me. There wasn't anything I didn't like about Seasons. My only complaint about Nightlife was that some of the furniture and clothing was goofy, but the Chemistry system is invaluable. I don't even remember what it was like in the pre-NL chemistry-less times... And I just like University. My Sims always seem to want to go, and I actually like playing through it. It's only boring if you play it wrong.

#1=Seasons
I love the weather and all the new careers. The lack of weather in the game bothered me. I (and this may sound rather...pessimistic) love having funerals on rainy days and I love snow days. Also the introduction of gardening is so nice. It makes a big change, and all my old, retired grannies have something to keep them entertained. Also all the benefits of the different seasons is nice.
#2=Nightlife
It added the downtown, more townies, or downtownies, cars, dates, the going out with a group, and so much more. It made me a happy gal. Also, this was before the days I knew of custom content, and it had good clothes. Except I found my Sims all wearing the same outfits and with the same hairstyles...slightly problematic.
#3=OFB
Mmm, I thought that this expansion would be boring, but boy was I wrong. I have memories of my first business when I didn't know how to label anything for sale, and I was getting people constantly complaining. Fun! Then Dina Caliente opened up a successful business, and got filthy rich. The one downfall was the servos. They annoy me. I thought they'd be so much better, but I was wrong. -cries-
#4=University
When I first got Uni, I thought it was the greatest thing since sliced bread. I loved the new careers and the cowplants. Then I realized how BORING sending Sims through University. So I resorted to cheating. I think this expansion's best factor was the zombies. They made life so much more fun. But yeah, I certainly found it boring.
#5=Pets
GAH! I can't believe I wasted my money on that expansion pack. The animals just annoy me and dig up my Sims yard. I hate it. They aren't remotely cute. I thought Pets would have so much more, like more interactions, pet shows and more activities. But no. Now I'm stuck with annoying little...pixels! :handbag:

And now you know about my passion for the Sims 2...which is quite sad really.

So far I only have two, nl and uni. When I was deciding my first one to get, I was going to get either of those. I thought nl looked a little better, but in the end, I got uni, and it was way better than I expected. It added this whole new aspect of gameplay, college. After about a year I decided to get another expansion. I decided to get nl. It wasn't as great as I thought. I didn't get that same feeling that it added so much to the game. It basically just added a lot of small, semi-cool stuff. I might be biased though, because since my computer is really slow, it never seemed worth it to me to load the downtown lots.

Since I got the base game with Pets for 50% as a special pack, I only have Pets. And don't have money to buy a new expansion pack. I'm satisfied with what I have. *shrug* :D

1. Nightlife - It adds a whole new experience to my game. Instead of just staying at home and inviting people over for a party, my sims can now go out on a group outing. I love the cars - a must have even though i dont really use them :P. And the Vampires were cool. I enjoyed having a different looking sim with unusual interactions. The downtown area was cool. I love the idea of dates, and the waiters, lol . A very nice ep.

2. Pets - Well, pets was OK.. I mean i do regret buying it because the pets were not-so-good looking. (I mean the kittens and pups were cute, but when they grow up they are mostly ugly) And I was very dissapointed with the interactions with the pets. (They should at least let you have a leash for them, lol) And the ep was just suckish. I loved the pets, but the graphics were simply terrible. I believe they could have done alot better with this one.

Those are the only two eps i have. My next ep destination - Seasons
Oh - And if i had to uninstall one, - pets would be out the door, period. (Actually, I already uninstalled pets. It really slowed down my game )

The Expansions I Currently Have that i can Review (In order of most favorite to least)

Nightlife - It adds so much to the gameplay. Adds a nice downtown where my sims can hangout, adds lots of new interactions, cars, build mode items... Its just amazing.

Pros - Adds a whole new dating game into the gameplay, Lots of new items, interactions, Turn ons/offs, Cars...

Cons - The guests you invite to your outing (They can't order themselves...) and adds a bit more glitches.

Overall - 9/10

University - It adds a whole new world of education and fooling around. Sims can go to University, enjoy the life and get an extended life span (unless you use the Aging off Cheat).

Pros - Adds University (Whole new gameplay), New buy mode objects, Young Adult Life stage (Only if you attend University), new interactions

Cons - Needs to improve on the University life because its just going to class and coming back to do work or something. Why not make them create a project which means bringing a whole group over? You could even slack off and still pass. Needs improvement on that.

Overall - 8/10

Next expansion i'm going to purchase - Open For Business

After that, i need you guys to help me decide, should i get Pets or just skip it and get Seasons? Pets adds almost nothing but pets which seems cool and also slow down the computers performence but it seems like a rip-off to purchase. Seasons seem so worth the while to purchase though. Help me decide!

Tim

Follow up to my review of The Sims 2 Expansions

Well since i've bought Open For Business, here is my basic review for now since i've just started playing it...

Open For Business - Adds more functionality like opening businesses, more build mode things, and much, much more.

Pros - Adds Businesses which you can manage, Can now purchase things from the catelog at the stores, More Build Mode functionality

Cons - Needs to improve the stage for more usability, need to be able to have more businesses to run, Need to change when Sims are changing into their uniform, their faces should not change...

Overall - 8/10

Bottom Line - Business are fun to operate but will be like being at work from home

Tim

My ranking:

NIGHTLIFE:
Great new features, like visiting downtowns and restaurants, nightclubs, bars, shops, etc. Vampires are pretty cool and even useful if u want to do something fun with a boring sim.

SEASONS:
Seasons has great weather effects, with little to no game lag. (i guess it depends on your pc specs) winter is my favorite season.

OPEN FOR BUSINESS:
Bakery is my favorite business!! i also love running a furniture store! its got some great objects to.

PETS:
Not much added to the game, except some nice lounges. The cats and dogs are just annoying ESPECIALLY THOSE D**N STRAYS!!! (Sorry for the caps)
The strays are really annoying.

UNIVERSITY:
Not much to say here, university is just boring, some of the objects are useful, thats about it.

so basically...most people like seasons and nightlife because of the cool graphics, pretty things, cars, more fun interactions and most people didnt like pets because it got annoy, too extreme, andrepetitive..so the next EP that comes out should be based on that...i was thinking something along the lines of...

Social Sim/Neighborhood EP!

-being able to have your sims talk to their neighbors
-communicate better between themselves, lie to each other
-jog around the neighborhood and spy on their sim friends (walk dog for those with Pets EP)
-teens could egg and TP houses
-teens, younger sims , and actual vampires and zombies could go trick or treating during Fall (have a Sim version of Halloween)
-social status based on neighborhood, income, size of house, number of cars/lovers
-networkingsucking up/doing favors for/ with fellow sims in order to get things for free or get better jobs even though sims dont have enough skills/friends for it (would be good for people who have OFB)
-mowing the lawn
-big BBQs and "block parties"
-garage sales
-parking on the sidewalk especailly downtown where lots are smaller so you might have to drive around and look for parking
-get parking tickets for parking on wrong side of the street like in Downtown when theres street cleaning (adds more excitment to cars from Nightlife)
-wash your car
-get in trouble for walking around neighborhood at night by the cops because of curfew
-garbage trucks pick up trash on certain days
-if theres a flood sims have to climb on roof to wait it out and theres the occasional death from a shark attack during a flood hehe
-tornadoes knock down trees and blow off roofs

I'm really surprised how many people don't like Pets all that much, considering how much everyone wanted it before it came out. I never really cared either way about pets in the game, especially since Unleashed was my least favorite EP for TS1 (at least there were no raccoons this time around).

Anyway, my ranking:

Seasons
Definitely the best one; by far my favorite. It completely changed gameplay for me. Its so easy to keep track of "neighborhood time" now, by just keeping every house on the same (or close to the same) season. That alone made Seasons better than all the EPs. But then there's gardening and fishing which both give Sims something to do and make money or food (my sims eat fish all the time now, its more filling than any other meal). And leftovers, I don't know how I lived without them before, I have my good chef of each house serve a meal every time they're idle and package each plate for the fridge so there's always food (I wish the process of doing so was a little less annoying, but the amount of time it saves later is worth it). Children no longer have to eat chips and juice and muffins when there's not an adult around to serve them. Plant sims are the only supernatural sims I really enjoy playing with (I made a vampire once, but all the sims around him just wanted him to be cured, so I gave in), they are the perfect gardeners and they never need to sleep. The weather is fantastic as well, I love watching the snow fall during blizzards, and when the thunderstorms are really strong (where I live we hardly ever get heavy snow or thunderstorms ). Seasons changed the whole game around, making it so much more involved and fun to play, especially for those of us with weak computers that hate going to community/downtown lots.

Nightlife
My favorite before Seasons came out. The process of attraction and dating gave me a way to find mates for the sims in my neighborhood who lack predestined lives (and you can have a date at your house, which is ten times easier than going anywhere). Cars are pretty handy too, especially when my sim misses their carpool/schoolbus or get promoted to a new job and I don't want to wait a day (when the new job is 3-10, for example, and they get home from the old job at 3 or later).

The other three I have mixed feelings about. OFB has a lot of cool things you can do with it, but its more like a game onto itself, its very involved. I have only run one or two (both home) businesses, and they've been somewhat annoying to deal with. I liked that the option is there though. Pets are alright, about what I expected. Its nice for realism, and its cool to see neighbors walking by with their dog or cat. University I just about hate. Its dull and repetitive putting a sim through college, and so many teenagers are obessed with it (and get big aspiration hits for not going). I do like how they get out and can get a good job right away (especially as I've been trying to play my young sims with as much realism as possible, no $20,000 for nothing). I like some of the things they added, but the EPs that just add to regular day-to-day gameplay are more fun.

1. Pets - I can't live without cats, neither can my witch sims - but to be honest, there should have been more to it than what we got.

2. Seasons - I love everything about this one, especially gardening. I'm still discovering this one since I'v only had it for less than a month now.

3. OFB/Night life - I cant deside any more. On my hp it was deffinately OFB - beucase going downtown was a pain - but now on my mac going to downtown is an actual option for funness - so this one is rising now to be one my favorites.

4. Uni - blaah

I voted Pets and Seasons. I love having pets in the family, and the seasons add so much more reality to the gameplay.

I have only University and Seasons.I like seasons the most.It's more real then everyday sun.University is sometimes very boring.It's is too long.
The only SP I have is H&M.The only maxis-made clothes, I love!

Seasons - Simply the best Espansion pack with way too many great new things to list :D
Nightlife - Well mainly cos it gave you all the nightime things aswell as CARS! *big boom of light and holy opera voices!*
Open for business - Nice new hairs and clothes aswell as stores, elevators and a few new build stuff.
Pets - Never bought it :P

Funny Pets is last so far, despite it being so highly anticipated.

I voted Nightlife as my favourite, as I think it brought so much to the game earlier on. I especially like the dating system, with turn-ons and off, cars, and the downtownies (with inventories!) brought more choice for mates!

A very close second would be Seasons. I haven't explored the gardening actions fully yet but they seem great, and the weather graphics are a lot more detailed than I thought they were be. I had no pre-conceptions of this EP, and was really pleasantly surprised.

Pets, OFB and University I have mixed feelings about.

University is boring to play - once you have done about 4 semesters, it is the same for every single sim, and the wants are annoying if you don't want to send your sim. However, I like having the extra careers, objects, outfits, and wants slots if they do go to uni.

OFB is quite time-consuming. I wanted to be able to have Sims that were moguls, with lots of businesses, but it just takes too much work for a game thats supposed to be fun. I haven't really done much with home businesses though, so I might try those out next. I like the clothes and hair that comes with business.

Pets I was kind of looking forward to, (not in an OMGZ!!1 way, just because it was something new) but pets got old quickly. Only a handful of my households have animals, as they can be so irritation, but I found that in Unleashed. I was disapointed in the lack of substance to the pack. They could have added different types of animals.

I think if I was to remove a pack, it would Pets or University.

I only have the H&M stuff pack. I haven't been tempted by the others, but I really liked the clothes. I know it is Blatant Advertising, but I liked the content.

The only other I would consider getting is Glamour Life Stuff.

Uni and Pets. I love the music that came with uni and the universities are lovely! Especially La Fiesta Tech. Even if uni takes so long I just love the uni premade sims. And the objects are cool too!
And for pets..... I don't care much about the pets right now. My sims haven't had pets in many months and I had the Kims (premade family which came with Pets) give away their two pets because of their two new kids and an instable marriage. Too much to do.......But the good thing with pets is the very cool furniture and buy mode things. All of the catalogue things from pets make up for the whole Seasons EP. And the Kim family are an awesome family to play..... Much more fun than any Riverblossom Hills families.
How many times shall I say that I love what came with the pets expansion??? futuristic/scifi furniture, fantastic universe wallpapers etc.
If only the stuff packs could give us that much.....

Here are my opinions on the packs (one sentence):

University- brilliant idea and an extremely good way for your short-lived sims to meet new people, form relationships and be young before they start their own families.

Nightlife- very interesting but there should have been more possibilities like a bigger city and more dating options.

OFB- Bluewater was really damn boring even if the neighborhood template was one of the most beautiful in the game.

Pets- there should have been more to do and more fun even if the wonderful buy items make up for it all!

Seasons- very good for the ones interesting in playing sims at the country but not necessary for the "urban simmer".

My thoughts.

OFB.

I think the object building and opening a business a great idea. Finally a way to take the sims to work. I think the talent badge is a really nice idea and I hope they will expand upon on that for Sims 2 and for Sims 3, such as a dancing, singing, swimming etc. This give the sims something new to build on rather than just the cooking, body etc. This would split attributes and skills, something all good RPG games should have.

Seasons.

The weather changes is nice and gives variety to the perpetual sunny days. I have not yet fully explored the gardening but it looks fun. The secret recipe is a nice touch. What I do not like is the sim dying from heat, surely fainting would be more suitable. The constant looking out the window when it is raining and snowing was just stupid.
Finally, why no umbrellas ?

Nightlife.

The car is nice. The downtown is well build. Would have been more useful to allow skill building on some lots. I have a hack for that so my sims travel to the gym a lot but I think this should have standard. The dating game is neat and I think this can be expanded upon in trying to guess what the dates wants, which place is visit etc. Right now it is rather simple. And Mrs (Miss ??) Crumplebottom is back with a vengeance.

Pets

In a way, Pets is well done except I do not use it much. I find it much easier to train the pets than in Unleashed. I think the pets having a career is silly. Just having them guard the house, chase away pests would have been enough.

University.

I found this to be rather boring. The reason I send the sims to Uni is to get the other careers. The career boost is okay but it should have restricted to the matching discipline and not all. Some of the new careers awards are neat, such as the Cowplant.

I like seasons the best, followed by ofb and pets.

1 pets
I know that the pets EP is kinda limited but I don't really use any of the features from other EPs, and it is nice to have pets, they make the game more interesting.

2 open for business
Open for business added significant new features that havent been seen before, and it is fun not for sims just to have dumb generic jobs that you don't get to control

3 university
I was quite dissapointed by this EP, University could have been so much better than just a neighborhood for campus and dorms. I can't see maxis putting much effort into this EP, maybe it had good new Items, but I don't remember what Item came from what pack.

4 nightlife
Nightlife was pretty lame, apart from cars, which aren't as cool as I expected. Being able to go downtown isn't great, sims could go to community lots before. For features like outings, it takes a long time for transport and stuff, and by the time its over all their needs are to zero, so why not just stay at home?

The Biggest Loser
All the stuff packs are just stupid, especially family fun stuff and the Holiday one. Who needs quirky extra wallpaper that you will never use

I Have All Of The Expansion Packs and 3 Stuff Packs (The Stuff Packs aren't Installed) So Here's My Top 4

FreeTime FTW!
- Secondary Aspiration
- Different things to do for different hobbies
- OMFG Violins!
- Sewing
- Pottery - too bad you can't sit to do a "Ghost" thing
- Not enough for toddlers, just blocks and drawing?
Seasons
-Gift Giving
-Different Weather Effects
-Different Wants for Different Seasons (Winter = Family, Spring = Romantic, Summer = Friends, Fall = Skill Building)
-Skating Rinks (looks cool with the stuff from Nightlife)
-Gardening/New Skills
-Plantsims
-Leftovers
Nightlife
-Cars
-Dates
-Outings (this is so much easier if you want to have a gettogether)
-Groups
-New Downtown Lots
-Cool Stuff (Reminds me of House Party)
-Cooler Clothes
Open For Business (tied for 3rd)
-Running Your Own Business
-Skill Badges
-Servos
-Probably one of the EPs with the least glitches?
-Making (many) Group Meals/Single Plates, then putting them in the leftovers away (With SSN)
-You May Get to Go Downtown in Nightlife BUT you can RUN the Businesses Downtown.
Bon Voyage
-Your Sims Get to Go On Vacation Finally
-Chance Cards on Tours (too bad you couldn't get to join your sim but i'm not complaining)
-Vacation Rewards
-Community Hotels
-3 Vacation Locations
-Gets Boring after a while.

Eh, University, I didn't really like the furniture, but I liked the new interactions. I also thought the YA Sims were a bit strange because they sounded like teens but looked like adults... MEH, at least it was something new though.
I actually liked the stuff in Pets but I felt that wasn't enough, and this WAS when Maxis gave EA the power to make the EPs unfortunately.