If you read the entire thread you'll find that every single EP is somebody's favorite and somebody else's waste of disc space. Personally, I love University. I think it's got the most bang for the buck of them all! Though Nightlife is close, because I can't imagine simming without dating and lots of community lots.

But I'm patient and willing to play a long-haul game and structure my neighborhood around the needs and possibilities of Sim State, which is the breeding ground of stories. From my point of view, the people who say "it takes so long" are being silly - it's the slowing down of time in University that makes it worthwhile! Whereas I'm unwilling to even try Open for Business because running the businesses really would take too long for my play style - and that seems silly to people who love OFB. Who's right? Both of us, of course!

Read a bunch of these and see which people seem to have tastes and playstyles similar to yours. Those are the people whose opinions should be taken seriously. Also, look in threads that specifically refer to certain EPs, and see what other people have done with those EPs. The ones that engage your interest the most are the ones to get first.

@Peni Griffin: I had a similar thought about OFB as in I couldn't imagine wanting to play businesses for fun, a bit to much like real life for me. However I ended up getting the EP for the servos and much to my surprise I really enjoy the businesses and disliked the servos. I would also say I like the furniture it added as well as the architecture and decorating items. The real selling point for me though are the workbenches for flower arranging, toy making and robot building. They really added a new dimension for me in keeping my Sims busy.

I know you play one day rotations and I can see how that could be an issue in trying to run a business but you still might find some value in the EP for other reasons. Just sayin' it's not like you have to like OFB or anything.

I'm a big fan of University myself as it fits in with my play style and I can't imagine denying them a young adulthood. My Sims do most of their dating and partying during Uni and usually find their future spouses there. Once they are full adults and starting families and careers there's not much time for dates and parties, funny how that works out.

I've got everything that is available to me as a MAC player which means no FT or AL and the only SP's available are Family Fun, Holiday stuff and Glamor Life. The only one I could do without is the Holiday stuff, I've got the outfits and bad elf hats hidden and the only deco I use is the occasional Xmas tree. I got it primarily so Santa could visit remembering how cool that was in TS1. This Santa however brings you a lame gift and then usually spends hours using your toilet. Plus in TS1 you had to put out the cookies, have a fireplace and everyone had to be in bed before midnight, here you just plop down the tree make the Santa cookies and he shows up regardless of time or if anyone is up. Just seemed more magical the other way and he brought cool gifts.

I know several people have listed that they don't like BV but I wouldn't play without it. I like for my Sims to take honeymoons or have an elopement and currently I've got Elders trying to spend their kids inheritance on travel. Plus it added sunbathing and with a hack my Sims can now lounge about their pools and get a tan and my Uni students tend to plop down a towel almost anywhere at the first sign of nice weather. I'm also seriously in love with MSD's new surfing mod. I don't use the Far East destination very much but I think that's more due to my own personal travel likes rather than anything else.

Seasons is just a given for me. Without it you could just have a Sim live on an empty lot, why do you need a house if there are no elements to be protected from? Plus the fishing and gardening I couldn't not have those.

Nightlife is also a must for dating, cars and the downtown area. I use all the subhoods in my game I have Sims living in them in addition to owning businesses. My load times are only a couple of minutes though.

Pets, what is life without a pet? Not every family in my game has a pet but not all of them deserve them either.

I don't play with any supernaturals, well except aliens and then only after I found a good default skin, eyes and a decent PT, so they were never a selling point for me.

Since there are existing hacks/mods to deal with pretty much every annoyance that each EP might have I wouldn't hesitate to add one. If they were to suddenly release AL or FT for MAC tomorrow I would be the first in line to snap them up. I don't think I would buy any additional SP's though if those were released I don't feel I'm missing out on anything by not having them but I feel that way constantly about the EP's.

D'oh! I never thought to have anyone click on them! I guess I just assumed that if they were animated they'd be like fountains and turn on automagically in live mode. You learn something new every day. Thanks for the tip!



Yeah, I would like this, too. It'd be nice if lights could be turned on and off in build mode, too.

I'm actually beginning to think in terms of: Well, if I ever finish up Drama Acres and want to do a Build a City or Test of Time or something I'd need OfB for that...and Bon Voyage sounds tempting sometimes...and they'll only get harder to get...So I'm keeping my eyes open for those things and for M&G when I go to used book stores. The information about the ceiling fans tipped me over the edge on that one.

But I spend so much time on this game I'm a little embarrassed to do the simplest thing and search on E-bay like I did for the others. Or rather, got my husband to do. I just don't like taking up so much space on the computer with a game I'm not sharing with him. It's one thing to have a room full of tabletop RPGs and board games we can do together, another to take up RAM with a game he's not interested in that I play alone while he's at work or watching TV or asleep. And I'm happy with my game as it is right now; it's not like I'm constantly wishing the Munnys could go on vacation.

Oh, you should definitely get whatever EPs you don't already have. As you say, they will get harder and harder to find over time.

I recommend Amazon.com. They've got used copies like EBay does, as well as new ones.

How much hard drive space do you have available on your computer? Unless it's tiny and/or close to maxed, the addition of an EP or two won't affect things much at all.

I'd definitely recommend M&G, especially if you're a builder. It has some nice stuff in it. The solar panels/windmills are ubiquitous in my neighborhoods, and it's a nice touch that they reduce your bills. Also, all the EPs/SPs are still available on Amazon, so...get 'em while they got 'em. I live in a very rural area; Amazon and other online places are my only resources.

OFB...Well, I love it, but I love running businesses. However, I think I like the crafting stuff even more. I get bored with jobs or farming for money. Crafting offers a new dimension, even if you never do owned businesses of any kind, home or community.

Bon Voyage...I'm really glad I got it. I would think that you, especially, might like it since I believe you like to do ethnic stuff? BV has nice Asian stuff, both in terms of decor/furniture and clothing, plus tiki stuff and mountain-y stuff. (I love its build-mode stuff, personally.) And I find it fun to have/build non-vacation beach lots, though I have to be careful because due to their rather large, un-Lot-Adjusted size, they can make the game lag on my poor aged laptop. I can definitely see that the "vacation" aspect might become boring/repetitive eventually -- There's only so much to do, and only so many times you want to do it -- but the vacation-y stuff can be used elsewhere in non-vacation settings. Not just the beach lots and all of their actions (like building sand castles, sunbathing, combing for shells, swimming in the surf, etc.), but things like saunas (in which couples can woohoo) and massage tables and hot springs and log-rolling pits, and the axe-throwing game (for when one is feeling like something slightly heavier than darts) are fun in non-vacation community-lot (owned and otherwise) settings and even in some residential settings. So yeah, I'm a BV advocate.

Not that I want to be a "pusher," of course. I'm just saying. And like someone else said, now that I have all EPs/SPs, my game doesn't seem to take up more RAM than it did when I only had up to Freetime, less BV, and only Celebration for SPs, which was my configuration for most of the time I've played, and my computer is certainly not high-end by today's standards. The only change I've noticed is that larger lots will tend to lag more than they used to, but that's generally only on lots that have a "5" as one of the dimensions, which I don't use that often anyway. However, it is "forcing" me to create my own beach vacation destination. The hotel lots in the Maxis beach destination all tend to lag too much on my comp to be enjoyable. But I'm having fun doing it, so it's all good.

@iCad as a word of advice on BV there are two fixes that I consider essential both found here http://www.simwardrobe.com/. One fixes a major glitch in the housekeeper at hotel lots to where she wouldn't actually clean anything and the other makes the bellhop fix broken stuff instead of just standing about. I'm not sure the hotels lag due to your system they lag for me as well and no other lots do not even really big dorms. It's a mystery to me, I ended up building smaller intimate resorts myself.

One other thing unless you get the antivacationactions mod from Pescado don't let anyone visiting Twikki Island learn the sea chanty. It is viral and pretty soon everyone in your entire hood will do nothing but stand about and sing it, constantly . Even with the mod it's banned from my game, you have to go out of your way to learn it from the pirate ghost so easy enough to keep it at bay. I ended up deleting a hood after just one Sim learned the song and spread it to everyone in a matter of days, it's worse than the flu.

I don't pay much attention to trying to get the vacation memories. My Sims tend to use them as romantic getaways and since I built some restaurants and a nightclub here and there they tend to date a lot . They always have a good time and come back fully platinum so I must be doing something right. I never do longer than the minimum 3 nights either so I don't usually get bored with it.

Yep, I got those shortly after I got BV because I wondered why the housekeeper just stood there. I did a little research and voila! But thanks for the tip!

As for the lag...Well, it only started for me after I installed BV. Now, big apartment buildings, dorms, and hotels (especially beachfront ones) with lots of NPCs on them will lag to greater or lesser degrees. The apartment/dorm lag doesn't bother me too much, but the beach lot hotels will slow down enormously, to the point that it's just not fun to play.

Maybe there's a glitchy thing going on, but I'm thinking it's my system. I play on an 8-year-old laptop that used to be high end, but isn't now. Beach lots do seem to eat more system resources. When I've been on one and checked to see how much memory the game was eating while there, it's always a lot more on a beach lot than on a non-beach lot of comparable size. So...Maybe it's a little of both.

I wonder if there's a way to control the number of NPCs show up on a hotel lot? Things seem to be fine until there's 15 or so of 'em hanging out there, plus the bellhop/maid and any playables. Maybe I should noodle around with the Visitor Controller, see what happens...



I haven't gotten anyone to learn the sea chanty yet, but I'll keep your warning in mind! So far, I've only gotten the pirate ghost to appear once, but no sea-chanty-learning yet. I do confess that I love the local gestures, especially the mountain "chest pound." (Yep, all us folks who live up in the mountains do that. And we all wear lumberjack outfits, too. Obviously, the people who designed the place have never been to a Colorado mountain town; our fall/winter uniform of choice is a ski parka, shorts, and flip flops. No lie! Speaking of which, someone needs to make a skiing add-on, like MSD's surfing add-on. ) Anyway, I love watching the gestures spread virally through the home neighborhoods. Maybe I'll get sick of them eventually...but I haven't yet.

I'm actually pretty sure you can do that without the Pets expansion pack. I'm not sure, but I'm pretty sure.

I really like the Open For Business expansion pack. To be honest, I haven't elaborated too far into it but I really like the idea of opening one's own business. I also find University quite fun, although it's slightly repetitive, I kind of like the break you get from some of the responsibilities of taking care of sims. It's been a while since I had a chance to play TS2, so I can't honestly remember the details of the University expansion, but I remember having a good time with it.

- Seasons is a great EP. I just love rain and snow IRL, and to have weather in the game is a real nice touch. I also love University. One of the best expansions ever created.
- For my least favorite, I'd have to say... I honestly don't know. I really like all of the expansion packs. I would have to choose Bon Voyage, I don't have it, my friend does, vacationing isn't my sort of thing.

- My favorite SP is probably Teen Style Stuff or H&M® Fashion Stuff. Having a variety, even a small one, of clothes in the game is a good thing.
- Least favorite SP is... Mansion and Garden Stuff. I don't have it, but my friend does, and I can't really say I like it. Then again, I'm not really a garden person. That's just me.

In order of greatest to least, I would rank the above listed EP/SP's as:
- University
- Seasons
- H&M® Fashion Stuff
- Teen Style Stuff
- Mansion and Garden Stuff
- Bon Voyage


If I had to remove an expansion pack, I would probably remove Seasons, since my computer doesn't fully support it.

Well, I just recently completed my collection of all the EPs and SPs. I'm not sure which is my favourite or least favourite, since each one adds something I like. But anyway...

Best EPs:

Nightlife - probably one of the most, if not the most, essential EP. Between the karaoke machines, bowling, card tables, pool tables, dating/chemistry stuff... It just really seemed to add a lot of life to the game, and to the community lots especially. I'm not surprised they ended up packaging it with the base game, since I'd say it has some of the most important stuff in it.

Open for Business - this one is also quite a fave with me, since it was the first EP I got. Running a business can take up a lot of time, and it can get quite repetitive, but I still love it for the amount of detail. The hilarious sales animations, the ability to choose your employees' uniforms, and the great crafting stations (including the ability to make robots and "evil" toys) made this EP a real winner.

University - Perhaps it just made me nostalgic for my real life days in university, but I actually liked this EP a lot more than I thought I would. Again, it's the little details that make it special: the ability to join Greek houses, the secret society, the dorms, the band instruments... I was also impressed that they included three different campuses instead of just one. I know some people disliked the mascots and cheerleaders, but I liked how it took the level of goofiness a bit over the top. And I swear, when my favourite Sim finished her graduation party and I saw that little cutscene showing her leaving the campus, I actually wept. University also offered the most hilarious interaction ever: Ventrilo-Fart!

Apartment Life - this really felt like the grand finale EP, simply because of the sheer amount of stuff they tried to jam into it. Some of it worked better than others. The magic system wasn't too deep, and the witches appearing on community lots was annoying. But I love the ability to make my own apartments, since it can change the gameplay quite a bit, and I like the other apartment-related details, like the landlord and the Murphy bed and radiators. The idea of "social classes" was also really interesting, and I wish they would expand on this idea in future Sims games.


Slight-Less-Than-Best EPs:

Seasons - Yeah, I know most people love this one, but I live in a city where it's winter for half of the year, so snow might not thrill me like it thrills some people. I also didn't think the Sims' reactions to the weather made sense: they'd be looking out at the rain even if they weren't near a window, and they didn't seem to mind getting all wet. Also, they seem to forget to remove their outerwear or put it on at the appropriate times. I thought the outerwear was very cute, however, and I love how much extra atmosphere the weather effects add to the game. I just prefer EPs that add more goals for me to pursue, and Seasons was a bit weak in that department. I wouldn't want to play the game without it, though.


Bon Voyage - This one I really had mixed feelings about. My Sims tend to focus on domestic life, so vacationing isn't really my thing. But I enjoyed trying to collect the various vacation momentos, and it's a great EP if you want a temporary, dramatic change in scenery. The thing that almost ruined Bon Voyage for me was the way the various gestures would spread around, and then my Sims would want to do them ALL the time, usually at the most inappropriate times! And the "unsavoury charlatan" seems to appear at EVERY community lot I go to. I think I would have preferred if those features had been contained to the vacation lots, instead of constantly popping up in the game all the time. It still has lots of content I like though; the beaches, the pirate ship, the hammocks...and one of my favourite items ever: the Voodoo doll!


Free Time - Well, Free Time does have a lot of great items in it, including a violin, a great board game for children, and an old broken down car that you can actually fix up until it becomes a real car! Unfortunately, the "hobby enthusiasm" system seemed rather pointless. The game will constantly remind you when your Sims are losing or gaining enthusiasm, but there isn't really a lot to be gained from increasing it, and nothing to be lost by losing it. But I do appreciate the new Aspiration Benefit points, since they can make your Sims less needy as well as add other useful perks...

Pets - This was the last EP I got, and I was reluctant to get it. But when I did, I was all, "Squeee! Kitty's chasing his tail!" Seriously, I thought the pets were completely adorable, and they have lots of great animations. I also like the ability to train them to be good or naughty. And watching the cat jump into the car and ride off to his job never gets old. But even though I liked the actual pets, the selection of objects seemed paltry compared to the other EPs, and there's just not that much new gameplay to it in general. I'm still happy to have it, though.

ive got all the sims 2 stuff for PC. And i can say, i dont understand why they ditched the sims 2 and made the sims 3. The sims 3 is boring but expanding, but the sims 2 had it all. They should have brought in like airports and trains and such to the sims 2. I wish they did.

My reviews of sims 2 expansions:
Sims2: One of the best games ever. Great graphics that totally smashes the sims 3.
Nightlife: I love how this brought in city type stuff to the game.
University: I love how it made it more realistic and brought colleges and universities.
OFB: I love to have business type stuff in games, along with a mall with elevator.
Pets: I love how it brought pets, but i got mad about certain securom issues.
Bon voyage: I love the vacation island type feel. I miss the sims 1.
Freetime: I could kind of care less for this, to be honest it should have been a stuff pack.
Seasons: One of my faves. It brings rain and snow!
Apartment life: My all time fave. A must have along with nightlife if your a die hard urbz fan like me!

EA and maxis for the sims 2. BAD job for the sims 3.

I actually really love Seasons, it is definitely a favorite.
My next one is a tie between Freetime and AL...although AL definitely seems to take the cake. Freetime's hobbies are cool but it really could have been done better, i love that my sims can now do all these things but you just get bored after a while...plus...wth?? How do i get rid of them pestering me about losing enthusiasm? I can't get rid of this! It is about as annoying as the phone ringing at all hours of the day!

AL has shifting paintings..that sold it for me lol

My Favorite EP is Seasons! Maxis really did a great job w/ this EP! The World becomes so much more alive w/ the season & weather changes. The graphics are amazing, you can easily see the rain or hail falling, and the lightning is really realistic, and I think it's so neat how the sky and trees change with the seasons! I also really enjoyed the gardening & fishing! I don't have a "Green Thumb", but Gardening is like my favorite thing to do, plus my sims get better food! And Plantsims are really fun & extremely easy to take care of. I also really enjoy Freetime & Open For Business! I like the addition of Hobbies in Freetime! The sims have Interests, but it's like the sims don't even follow them, but they do follow their Hobbies. I also really like the new items w/ Freetime, such as the "Build-Your-Own Car", but to be honest what really pushed me to Freetime was the Violin!!! At first I mainly bought OFB for the new foundation, but it's kinda fun to run and manage a business, and earn money w/o a job! I ended up liking the OFB EP more than I thought!My Least Favorite EP is Apartments. It's cool having that new living experience, but the Maxis-made apartments are so small, and I just prefer to keep my sims in a larger roomier home. The only thing I really like about Apartments is the Witchcraft, otherwise I probably wouldn't keep it. My Favorite Stuff Pack is Glamour Life! I love all the clothes, furniture, and art, (I like "High-class"/rich Sims). I have not played the IKEA Stuff Pack, but really really want to because I LOVE Ikea's furniture already! (Maxis even included the Heart w/ hands Pillow :D). I actually like all of the Stuff packs (other than IKEA & Holiday which I have not tried, but want to), I prefer to have many differ furniture & design options! The packs I probably use the least of is Teen Style and Family Fun, because I don't play a lot of large families w/ children.

Expansion List (1. Fav, 2. Least Fav): 1.Seasons 2.Freetime 3.Open For Business 4.Pets 5.Bon Voyage 6.Nightlife 7.University 8.Apartments.

Stuff Pack List: 1.Glamour 2.Kitchen & Bath 3.Mansion & Garden 4.Celebration 5.H&M 6.Family Fun 7.Teen Style

I've purchased more EPs since my last post so the order has changed (plus I found pets)

#1~Seasons
Seasons totally steps the game up one more level due to the fact that it brings a major part of life into the sims. This is the only EP which brings an affect in that everyone in the world experiences, not just people who live in apartments, have hobbies, go on holiday, have pets etc. The only annoying thing about it is in winter when the sims have to change clothes everytime they attempt to go outside xP

#2~Pets
Athough in the last post pets was my least favourite, since I found my disc again and began playing i realised how much I had missed it It doen't slow my laptop down atall and it only annoys me when they scratch crap up (before I've even had the chance to train them not to.)

#3~University
1 single word- COWPLANT. God this babys an essential for a freak like me (and is horrendously helpful with serial killer challenges xP) I also find the uni quite cool- it gives sims that chance to find love of their own age + be a graduate

#4~Apartment Life
I like apartments. Also the very large telly and giant aquarium <3 Then plus those spiral staircases- they are stairs that don't actually look that awful! It can be laggy- it was on my old computer but theres no problem with it on the laptop.

#5~Open for business
I like this EP because of the home buisiness add-on, as its quite a nice thing to see your simmies actually working, although it can be a pain in the bum when your sim is the one at the till and after the shift goes into needs faliure xP I'm a bit lazy so I haven't really used OFB to its full extent.

#6~Nightlife
I like the idea of the dating system and turn-ons and turn-offs, but otherwise I don't use it much. I hardly ever go downtown, and never use the cars to go anywhere. Some of the furniture is good additions to Community lots however.

I recently bought Seasons and now I don't understand how could I survived all this time without it. Love the changing light colors. Awesome.

If you approach it the right way...

But even if you don't like actual YA gameplay, you still get tons of "how did I ever played without them" objects, starting with lowly bare-bones shower, to musical instruments to bubble machine to necrophone&cowplants. Also, a "hang out" interaction and pranks.

Here are my Top 8 Expansion Packs for the Sims 2:


8. Bon Voyage
Less than I expected. I mean, you can't have families living in Vacation Hoods and you can't even play on a lot if even part of the family has gone on holiday. But, it's not that bad, the way you can take vacations is pretty satisfactory.

7. Open For Business
To be honest, I haven't really experianced the features of OfB, besides I can't really put this anywhere else so...

6. Seasons
Seasons is a great EP. Fishing, seasons (duh), and other stuff really enhanced the game. The only reason why I put this at number 6 is because I don't really like it's theme music.

5. Free Time
Free Time is brilliant. Being able to make your own car and even drive it? (If you have Nightlife, of course). That is what I call awesome. Free Time is like an addition of a new car to Nightlife. But aside from that, all the other things make Free Time another great EP.

4. University
University was my first expansion pack ever. It is so awesome. I love it. It has everything you'd expect for a college-themed expansion. One of the greatest EP's I ever had.

3. Pets
Pets is awesome. I love all those cuddly cats and dogs, and those ADORABLE kittens and puppies. Pets is a really good Expansion Pack, what more can I say?

2. Nightlife
The second best. Cars, garages, driveways, dating, everything you'd expect for a night out in real life.

1. Apartment Life
Apartment Life obeyed all of my expectations. Even if making your own custom apartments isn't that easy, it is still the best EP. The way you live in Apartments is everything you'd expect. Pets can live in the apartment, I can't think of anything bad about Apartment Life, apart from the fact that EA diden't really make making custom apartments seeable.

Favs
 

There are a lot of things I love, and I hate about each expansion. I love more than hate obviously or I wouldn't play. lol

University is the only one I have trouble deciding on because while I like a lot of the features and some of the new stuff and swimwear, it takes so long to get through, and I personally HATE throwing parties so it's very hard to put a popular or pleasure Sim into university without making them go in the red because I won't let them have a party or they're too busy to juggle cups. I do however like the whole theme, but I wish it would take less time, 2 weeks would be perfect, and I absolutely despise that cow, I kill him using the cheat every time he comes onto the lot.

Seasons is probably my absolute favorite. I love the whole reality aspect of it. I love it when it rains, and the leaves fall, and especially the snow. The only downfall is the fires when it thunderstorms. I get tired of having my kids stop what they're doing to run out and yell at it like that's going to make it go out.

Apartment life: I love apartment. I love the apartments, and I love downloading custom apartments. It's a lot of fun! The only thing I don't like is when someone comes over, and they stay too long especially if it's an upstairs apartment it will glitch and the person will get stuck in my apartment and complain that I let them sleep over and gave them nowhere to sleep -.-

Bon Voyage: Ahhh, I love this! My favorite is the Eastern Village! There's not much that I don't like about Bon Voyage - well okay there is one thing, when my Sims age up they sometimes get put in a goofy fanny pack shirt and shorts! I hate the fanny packs!!

OFB: I like the stuff, but I haven't made any businesses yet. I want to try, but I never get around to it.

Pets: I liked pets, I don't use the dogs though because they behave worse, and I rarely have the time to praise/chastise them for doing something stupid. If I get a pet it's usually a cat because they don't require being bathed.

FreeTime: I love the expressions! I love the new stuff you can do, and the hobbies. The hobbies add a lot to it, but I have one question, what's a good item to use when my Sim has a love for Science/Medicine? Besides a Telescope (not ready to be abducted yet, so I don't use it much)

Night Life: I love the cars! I have so many custom cars in my game! But, I don't go downtown much - sometimes I do, but I like using the little village. I often create custom village and put a Walmart in lol. I think that's with OFB right?

Stuff Packs: I like them all, although I don't have Holiday Pack. I didn't even know there was a holiday pack until I saw people talking about it.

If I had to do without one I guess it would be Pets. I would miss it best, (and can you believe Pets is the game I bought 3 times! One disc cracked, my old computer crashed, and I lost it during a move, and when I went to reinstall, I was Petless and it bugged me.

Even if I don't play the features, I like my Expansions/Stuff Packs.

I have University, Nightlife, OFB and Pets installed, and I'd be hard pushed to find a favourite. I think the University one is my least favourite - I love the idea, and there's a lot of good objects and interactions, but the fact that the system is very much based on the US college/university system kind of bugs me. Not because it's Amercian OMG (some of my favourite family members are from the USA ) but just because I can't give my sims the same university experience I had. Where are the student clubs- the film appreciation societies, or sci-fi clubs, or paragliding associations? And what's with all the greek house stuff? And the mascots, what? WHY ARE THESE STUDENTS SOBER? D:
I still enjoyed it, mind, but I would've enjoyed it more if the different colleges had included colleges from other countries.
OFB is one I still haven't fully explored, but the ability to make sims self-employed is brilliant and I love all the tiny little shops you can have everywhere.
Nightlife is vital to my enjoyment of the game. Being able to set the turn ons and turn offs makes it much easier to arrange sims relationships, the new locations are much more fun than the base game ones and having vampires is just the icing on the cake.
Pets, yeah I love pets. It is a little thinner than OFB or Nightlife but the world doesn't seem right without any animals in it. I love the flexibility of being able to create your own breeds, the degree to which you can shape the little critters means you can make almost any animal with a bit of ingenuity. And they're <i>adorable</i>. Only slight annoyance is trying to see what you're making in CAP - I have a widescreen and man, that damn console always sticks itself right in front of what I'm trying to see. It's bad enough when it's half a sim hidden but when it's a cat you can barely see what you're doing.

I've bough all the other expansions bar seasons, but I'm trying to pace the installations because otherwise it's a bit overwhelming! I'm not sure about Seasons tbh. Has anyone noticed if it slows up your gameplay? There's stuff in it that I want, like the ability to grow vegetables and fish, but I'm not really that bothered about having weather - it looks pretty but I worry it'll cause things to lag as it's going on all the time.

Some people have reported that heavy snowfall lags their games. My system lags for a lot of reasons, but not for that. I suggest that when you decide to install it, you should back up your game (you should do that before any new installation anyway) and test a few lots with a winter season, playing until you get a good heavy fall of snow. Then you'll know, and will be able to uninstall and restore your saved game without a hiccup in operations if the slowdown warrants it.

Please note, when you install Seasons, that rooms that don't have all four walls enclosed are not weatherproofed! I had the Ottomas family in the Cape Cod house, with the parents downstairs and the kids upstairs, during the summer, and the kids got heatstroke; my university students who sleep in an attic suffer from cold in deep winter and heat in deep summer; and I had to hastily reconfigure the Modern Marvel when my pregnant lady got heatstroke. Overheated sims can die; overheated or hypothermic children will get taken by the social worker.

Also, make sure you patch the game before you play the Ottomases that ship with this EP! The family shipped glitched and there's all kinds of horror stories about them.

What makes you think all those students are sober? I'm pretty sure the pep squad and cow mascots - who don't reflect any American's college experience, I don't think - are continually high. The cheerleaders are mellow, the llamas are on speed, and the damn cow mascots have been freebasing and following it up with Jell-O shots. You can always try making a different kind of college and create social groups, or even households based on the mechanics that run the Greeks, to simulate your clubs and things. I think Academy La Tour was vaguely supposed to represent a non-American University, but you're up against the life experience and limitations of the programmers, most of whom had probably never left the lower 48 states. If you roll with it and experiment, you should be able to tweak their vision into something more fun for you. University is my favorite EP and in a lot of ways constitutes the heart of my game, though it doesn't reflect my own college experience at all. (No D&D group! No SCA!) But the Greeks have a lot of uses, even if you decide to use their mechanics to create a household no American frat boy would recognize.

University= I love YA gameplay but it take much time to graduate, so i use mod to make semester shorter i like dorm life, but i never try greek house. maybe i will try greek house after post this.

Nightlife= my first EP, since i bought the sims 2 Deluxe (and nightlife come with it). very very love it. dating, outing, restaurant, and cars. don't forget ms.crumplebottom. i love how she beat us with her purse.

Open for business= i love business gameplay and servo. but i still need learn how to make good business without cheat. (still using maxmotive while running business)

Pets= well, i'm pet lover, but i think this EP is boring. and i don't like floor rotate feature. it's just annoying.

Seasons= i loved this EP, but not anymore. since i kinda boring watching changing seasons and wants that depends on seasons.

Bon Voyage= i love to have vacation like the sims:vacation. but it take some time to load any vacation lots.

Freetime= aspiration benefit is good feature.. but i don't like about hobby/enthusiasm. it's too annoying.

Apartment life= apartment is boring and witch too.

note: EA did good job until they made OFB EP. after that, i see that they lose their creativity to make any EPs. and i don't like having new neighborhoods for every new EPs because they won't attach in my previous neighborhood.

I'm on the Mac So there were some eps I never got to try but the ones I do have I am absolutely content with and use their features almost every game play.

1: Nightlife: It's great for single and romance sims. It's neat having a chemistry system. Instead of mashing two sims together just because it's nice to have little indicators if they'd do well together. I love having delis and having my families go out for brunch or teens go out bowling or dancing in clubs on the weekend. I love having the cars too instead of taking the taxi. I also love having a down town so sims can live in the city and not suburbia if that's not what their personality is about.

2: University: This adds so much. Sims get a break before being adults and this is the time for them to go to university and really they only have 1 class so they do have lots of free time to date around or chill out with friends. Among objects that came with this Ep that added more were the cell phones (you can go to a lot and invite someone there, multiple people can be talking on the phone at once), Band instruments, pool tables, the bubble hook thing. Also the coffee helped too. Mix that with night life and you can have restaurant cafes, and make bars in the college towns for sim pub-crawls. I think a lot of people find sending their sims to college tedious but there are tons of things you can do with them,personally - I haven't gotten tired yet and I haven't used the fast track cheat yet.

3: Seasons: I love the weather. I love how I can light the fireplace in the middle of a blizzard and not question why I am lighting a fire. Ice skating and hot chocolate in the winter, and then gardening is fun too and gives old sims something to do as well as fishing. I find Old Sims are more tedious to play so giving them things to do moves their play a long without the player getting bored. The relationship/skill boots for each season are much appreciated too.

4: Pets. I got this one randomly because a friend bought it. I never had much interest in pets but they offer another things for elder sims gameplay. Playing a single sim on a lot gets tedious and lonely so adding a cat or dog helps move the game along.

Bon Voyage and Free Time I would have interest in, OFB and AL not so much since I already play apartments with what I have. I have no interest in Stuff Packs - a lot of my content is CC and that is satisfying enough.