Any results suprise you? With over 23,000 of you graciously completing my survey to rate all of the packs in Sims 4 I was able to put together this video! If you want to know how I organised the data, or just quickly view the pack rankings, or even download the source data, you can find it on my website here: jamesturner.yt/sims-pack-ratings Thanks again so much to those who participated in the survey, we had so many more get involved this year and I really appreciate it!
Interesting seeing what makes other people like packs. Personally when I add a pack I just add it and keep playing forward where I am at. I also wait for sales and tend to buy packs that will enhance/impact my gameplay. Going to School (High School and College) can never get boring because going to school with Mike and going to school in the 'future' with his daughter Kelsey won't be the 'same' experience by default. They won't join the same clubs or like the same things. They will have different friendship groups and different romances along the way. Playing a studious student and playing a rebellious is totally different. Like with parenthood and growing together you can explore the results of being both a good and bad parent. To me that's the longevity of a pack. Not buying it and attacking/playing every feature in a lump. If it doesn't naturally fit into my established families, I won't even get to that part of the pack until it does.
Werewolves has a lot of L€$bi@n undertones James, and straight women are OBSESSED with their secret bi side so the Werewolves pack is to them that escape, even though real masculine women don’t even know the sims exist, for example im a gay guy and that’s different, I’m obsessed with straight men and journey to Batuu means to me that tiny connection with the straight men world, I literally sent my sim self husband on a journey to Batuu and he made me proud, so yeah. It’s something that never gets talked about because at the end of the day it’s women the majority of simmers and gay guys of course, straight men playing sims are very rare like you or CallMeKevin and I appreciate that honestly you are the best , but yeah that’s the reason why Werewolves Pack is top 1 and why Batuu is the last. Have u seen any big TH-camr female simmer and how they always get this household with a couple of Romantic females and one is big, chubby with the manly walk ?? It’s cause that’s their deepest fantasy and that’s ok, sorry, I’m a Virgo and I get word vomit sometimes 😭😭😭 but you gotta trust it’s the truth and it’s never a lie
I'm probably one of the few that gave it a semi good rating. I actually don't like the cats and dogs pack with the only thing I ever use in it being the world. I love small animals and while I wish there was far more it was the only reason that was higher than pets for me. I'll be honest a chunk of packs others really like (with the exception of werewolves, it's a good damn GP) I don't actually use so I'm not shocked that the packs I enjoy didn't score vary high. I just don't find highschools and universities as interesting gameplay - i spend more time watching than actually doing anything (seriously laundry... why is that rated so high? You do less in it than you do with the little pets! Laundry to me was a wasted a pack.)
Did anyone see it’s free on EA right now? 😂 I bet James still doesn’t get it and I wonder if it’s their response to it being the lowest in his video 🤔😅😂
It would have been interesting to have gender, age, play frequency and a few other things in there to see who actually prefers which packs (maybe even some signifance testing). Also the overall rating of packs seems skewed. I wonder if people buy a pack more likely for a good world even if game play is bad.
Agree ! On both counts !!! For example, I was really stuck on how to rank Dine Out gameplay, and a couple of others because I love the idea of the gameplay but then fact that it just doesn't work tanks the score ! Also, some packs are sooooooo much fun for "one shot gameplay" I genuinly enjoyed some things rhe first time I did them... have I ever used those gameplay elements again ? NOPE so it's hard to rate them highly when you don't get a sense of "money's worth" whereas some other packs aren't initialy as much fun... but I find myself using the gameplay elements constantly across all my saves so there is the sense of "worth the money"
I thought that was the point of the game play score. If the cas and build items were good, I gave good scores for those categories. If it bugged my game, I gave poorer game play scores because the bugs are detrimental to the gameplay.
Justice for Get to Work!! If any expansion deserves a refresh it's that one. They could add so much to the careers to make them exciting again - even if they just added a whole new career - and if they updated aliens to be more in depth like later occults, I bet ratings would skyrocket
GTW is still the most fun I think I've had playing The Sims 4 since it launched. The science career with its layered tasks and rewards was great. You're right it could really be updated and be even better though.
I feel like it's underrated because it's viewed as a default pack. It is so uninteresting because of that. But I think it adds so much depth to the gameplay even if I don't play it a lot... Just knowing that my Sim has the option to have a fully immersed job makes the world feel less calculated. And the retail store option is so cool.
This is also one of my Top 3 simply because of the retail store. I've played Open for Business a LOT back during Sims 2 and the retail store is compatible with every expansion pack in-game simply because it allows you to sell every sellable item in a unique way. Instead of just selling it using Buy Mode.
I feel like there should be a companion survey - for the packs you don’t own, are they a) I want that b) maybe when it goes on sale c) only if it’s free or d) do not put that in my game
Get Together is probably the most underrated pack... the club system is so versatile and i feel like most people just dont get deep enough in to realise that but my game without that pack would be so different and also much harder
I kind of always forget about Get Together somehow. I even have clubs. Like I have study clubs for kids and teens. I have a knitting club..... I just always forget about it lol. I get that popup so often saying something along the lines of "We haven't had a gathering in a while for Group ABC. Should we have one?" Lol. I do like Windenburg though from Get Together. It is soooooo big and has so many lots so I think it's worth it even if you're like me and forget about the clubs lol. (It also has most of the games storybook decor if you're really into DHD preferences when you decorate lol.) That's one thing I wish we could see before buying a pack... Now that you can pick preferences I wish there was a way to see what things get tagged before you buy them. Like you can see all the items but you can't really see how they are going to get categorized. IE Modern Luxe.... Is it going to be categorized as modern? Or Luxe decor style? (The correct answer is Luxe) That wouldn't necessarily be the determining factor for me to buy... Like if I like the stuff I'll buy it... But for gameplay and storytelling it would just be nice to maybe have some of that information in advance lol. Like I can prep a sim better for an upcoming pack if I have more of that info lol. Like not even every item would have to be labeled but they could make one of the description bullet points say something along the lines of the general or most used design style in the pack. Maybe that's just me though.... I get really into sims preferences... So much so I have some really weird builds because my sims had some really weird design ideas lol. Like Cosmolux/Island... Weird combo lol.
Also for us Europeans its one of the few ones that don't scream too american in the world department. as I really don't like werewolves, high school years and basegame worlds at all. I also like how the pack added raves and not sure if it was get together that added that, but I think it was, the phone calls and text messages that kind of added more ways to passively have social interactions and invitations. It would be a more solitary existence for sims without it I feel, also current social medias in the game are so surface level they might not exist at all and I wouldn't even notice. kind of wish they added something more to it
Absolutely and if you are on pc and have mc command you can update the number of group members.I have mine set at 25, when the >youth party goers< club (set to single ya and adults) go clubbing, it looks and feels like it. Not to mention it can help by setting the vibe of the club (friendly/flirty/confident) or improving skills via the boost. So many uses and cross pack compatibility for once! Get the club working on a rocket ship or the farm or cleaning up Sulani. Have clubs rival one another. Get the family or kids together without worrying about the fact that your sim has suddenly 'forgotten' someone they once knew or not been introduced.
I think we can easily pinpoint the expansion and game pack popularity requirements from this - and you said it yourself James - replayability. If the content fits every world and every gameplay you do, then it's great. If it's something you might do once or twice, it's a waste of money. Thanks for your hard work and effort here, James. Brilliant video. Hope we get another one next year.
I think there’s a wildcard 😂element when it comes to Sims tho. Like I folded and got dine out because (stupidly) the restaurant lot type doesn’t exist without Dine out. My sims can’t even patronize actual restaurants without it and for just the lot type, not the gameplay of running a restaurant in dine out I ended up getting it. Technically I do use it all the time but just so every world isn’t stick with Nightclubs, Bars, and gyms as their only community lots. Not to run a restaurant. I think there are times where the packs intended gameplay might not be the reason you actually buy it. Gonna be honest, I really wanted bikes and that’s how I got motivated to get Discover University. The family I am playing right now has toddlers and I am far from needing to send any Sim I am playing right now to college and I don’t jump life stages just to play a pack. I have a custom long life cycle and play family rotations. This is were the peicemeal packs kinda suck. Like with Sims 2 and 3 even if I used a quarter of the pack, it was so much. Now I find myself buying the whole Discover University pack for bikes. I honestly think City Living has been my most worthwhile purchase so far. I use so many features of that pack and the world on a daily basis where as I keep forgetting Magnolia Promenade exist and basically just wanted the hospital. Luckily I get most things in sales or bundles.
@@TheDawnofVanlife Lol I bought parenthood for a rug. At least the bikes have utility. I just don't really care about kids in the sims (although with growing together it's gotten a bit better) and could have easily skipped it, except I kept watching build videos with pretty rugs in them.
I'm SO shocked how low Gwt Together is. I guess the CAS isn't really strong, but I use clubs ALL THE TIME just purely to summon a group of sims. All the cousins in a legacy challenge? A homework group? Meeting eligible bachelors? Forcing a sim and a celebrity to be friends? It's SO useful of you don't play with mod cheats
I have to imagine most of James' viewers are builders lmao. I honestly barely ever play, usually it's to test out a home before I send it to the gallery and then I get distracted and play a bit. So for me, Get Together build stuff is nice but not as nice as some other packs. I notice I tend to use stuff from Tiny living, Seasons, Dream Home and Cottage living. And I 100% see myself using Horse Ranch, Growing Together, and even High School to build once they come out for 50% off hehe.
@@roseability86 yes I was initially drawn towards his builds, but stayed for the chaos of the big wallet family 😂 I’ll never forget our matriarch and savior Lady Bigwallet the first.
Get together is a) lots of lots and b) that grouping function you described. There’s nothing else to it. It’s not an expansion pack. Not even a game pack. Probably clubs should have been a base game feature and there shouldn’t even be a get together.
I agree that rating the "bugginess" of the pack would be useful. It would help to know how much of the game is affected by the bugs, too. For example: - No bugs (or just regular Sims bugs lol) - Minor Annoyance/Visual Glitches - Broken CAS clothing/items - Broken CAS Sims features - Broken Build/Buy items - Broken gameplay - Breaks other packs gameplay - Breaks base game gameplay This would be better as a list with checkmarks instead of a scale from 1-10 since each pack could have a different collection of issues that might matter to different players.
I think this is a good idea in theory but I think this would also be hard to track.... Like yeah MWS is still bugging to this day, but it is less buggy than it was when it launched. Bugs come and some go (albeit some longer than others) Earlier this year DHD was broken and the career was unplayable because jobs couldn't complete and you therefore couldn't get paid or progress.... But it wasn't like that when it launched and it doesn't seem to be a current issue (at least for me) when I took the survey. Some packs are just always buggy like Dine Out and MWS but others just kind of break here and there and a lot of time breaks are triggered by updates, new packs, etc. Also bugs can be so inconsistent. Like there are bugs in the game that I read about people experiencing, but I never have an issue with, or vise versa, so that could be just a really inaccurate stat. Just because I rated that it's not buggy, doesn't mean it's not buggy... It just means I didn't experience a bug (or found it irrelevant enough that it didn't really effect much like an outfit clipping or something) It would definitely get to hard to track bugginess consistently and that would greatly depend on what was active when the survey happened and not necessarily a reflection on the pack as a whole. Again, I know some packs as a whole are buggy all the time, like MWS, but not all packs have a consistent bug so it wouldn't be as fair to rate them all that way. Like I think DHD is one of my favorite packs. Yes when it bugged it was really annoying, but as a whole it's not ALWAYS bugged and it is still one of my favorite packs. Also, again, it wasn't bugged at the time the survey came out.
I’ve seen so many “which sims 4 pack should you buy” videos, and this one is BY FAR the absolute most detailed and best for people who really need help figuring out which packs to get. Great job James!!
James (paraphrased): When we get lost in a Let's Play and it grows beyond the pack and we tell all these stories, that's when I know the pack is really good. Meanwhile, in the Bigwallets there was the soap opera that was Get Famous and the 25 Episode quest to revive the dead party members of Discover University.
There is something to be said about how someone's game style affects their enjoyment. If someone would rather have a story created for them instead of creating the story, they will favor the packs that enable their gameplay. That's not knocking anyone either.
They really should just turn the vacation worlds into normal worlds, since they don't make more, and added rental lots to normal worlds. Except for Batuu, I suppose. Really, I just want to be able to live in Granite Falls.
If they had the idea for this in the works before making these worlds I think they would do this, but cause of how it's coded I reckon it's too much time to unweave that code and make them residentall which is why we haven't see them updated. I really wish I could live in JA's world (I wanted to put a sims version of the Encanto family there)
If you're on PC, Zerbu made an All Worlds Are Residential mod. You'll need a venue changing mod to swap the lot types in the Destination Worlds, but they have that too. I haven't had any issues with it so far.
I completely agree with you!! It makes no sense that they added the rental lot type but kept vacation worlds. They either need to remove vacation worlds or do an overhaul and expand on it. Side note - If you have the Paranormal pack you can make a haunted lot and live in granite falls. :)
I honestly thought the groups were way too needy. My teen was in high school and the group is like “We haven’t hung out in a while… 😢” during her school day, when they literally hung out like two days ago.
Agreed, it might take some creativity, but there are so many options. I use it for retirement homes for instance (a "group" where they do knitting, play chess, etc) to make them feel more alive and used "correctly". Or you can do the CallMeKevin thing and make a cult, lol.
@@nannasofie This could be great in combo with 4 Rent - make a whole elder sims/retirement apartment complex with integrated clubs for the different activities those kinds of places will have (so like knitting and gossiping, chess and reading, walking/hiking and yoga/tai chi). And can have different people in different groups - set up some club rivalries, etc, etc.
for anyone using this as a buying guide, the best way to determine whether you want a pack or not imo, especially for stuff packs and kits, is to just look at the items and features and decide if you want to pay for it. the only objective thing you can measure about a pack is whether or not it works, so just make sure to look that up as well
Absolutely! I can't help thinking the 12 or so folks who rated Cottage Living as zeros probably were gifted the pack rather than buying it themselves, and it just really isn't their thing at ALL, which means they wouldn't have paid for it unless it was out of obligation for their job or as a collector's compulsion (or for the early order bonus items >_>) But not having paid for it at all seems far more likely. As long as it's not buggy as heck, your own personal preference is all that matters. There are very few packs I would recommend for every single playstyle. Actually, just Seasons, regardless of if you play family-oriented or not, or are a CAS or build mode specialist who does very little live mode gameplay, it has quite a lot of utility in every aspect imo- seasons can affect how lots look for build mode in several ways, there are 2 new outfit categories you can style on everyone CAS-wise, and of course, lots of gameplay with holidays and weather. Truly something for everyone imo, though for sure look into it before purchasing, and generally speaking for any sims purchase wait for a sale. Whereas if you don't like cottagecore or farming, Cottage living is definitely not for you, even though it's the highest rated! :P
100%, this is why I turn people away from Seasons if they dont have many or any packs. I have had some fun with it, but only because I have a ton of other packs to flesh out gameplay.
Actually, I agree. Just learning more about the packs will help you decide which packs that would interest you and thus you'd get a bigger bang for the buck. As en example: you may hear about how good Seasons is with the weather, but maybe Discover University might be the one for you cause of the gameplay of studying at a university and the general asthetic of the cast stuff might be more to your pleasing.
@@mattrose99 I'd probably still recommend Seasons if they already are happy with the base game, but I still agree with this. It's not an expansion that ADDS a lot to the game, but instead it's an expansion that BOOSTS what you already have.
It's possible that it just can't be done. There's a difference between adding an entirely new life stage and editing an already existing one. They'd have to keep them relatively the same size unless they wanted to break ALL existing teens (pre-made and player made) cuz they'd need new clothes and such which wouldn't work on new teens. And they likely can't do what modders do and just shrink the current teens so that it all works either. I do think they could stand to make teens be a bit more baby faced than they already are cuz it's hard to tell unless you're switching between them being teen and young adult in CAS.
@@moonlitxangel5771 Almost all of the infants clothes are from toddlers, at least the base game ones are, so I’d imagine the sims could do that for young adult to teens. Also, there are mods that offer different heights and those modders have been able to figure out how to change sims heights and not have the clothes break.
I think the main thing with height is that it makes all the animations look bugged and weird. Like hugging and kissing is all messed up. So they'd have to redo all the animations for teens and those they interact with. @@sophiag612
I think the teens look fine in the sims. However, I wish they were more consious about the type of clothes they added with High School Years. There are some clothes in there with very deep cleavages or cut outs and I don't think that's really appropiate for teens, especially if we go off on American HS ages being 14 to 17
It's so sad honestly. I loved having a mediterranean/italian world in the Sims 3 and really really wished that we would get one in the Sims 4. But it coming with my Wedding stories, a Pack that is just objectively bad, made me not buy it and now my chance of having a really cool mediterranean world is gone...
@@melinaalba63 there is a mod allowing you to have weddings the old way even with My Wedding Stories installed. That way you can have the world and weddings that actually work. I admit I bought the pack specifically for the world and it really is gorgeous. From my personal perspective it was worth the money.
I wonder if For Rent will bump Del Sol Valley's world score, I think the world will be so much better to play in once apartments and townhomes are added to it. Looking forward to doing this all again next year! Fingers crossed we get more awesome stuff packs!
Cottage living remains SUPREME. It has errands, treats, 6 animals, good build buy, cas, the best world, agnes crumplebottom, better gardening system, fairs you can enter, cross stitching skill, new deaths and woohoo spots, animal gifts etc. there is no other sims 4 pack that can stand up to how much gameplay this pack has and i will forever stand by this until the make an actually better pack
To be fair they basically copied animal crossing but this pack made the sims a game with actual gameplay and a flexible storyline with the errands and not just fluff like some other packs
@@pengwinsRus its small but are larger worlds really that better? Windenburg is one of my faves but kind of empty feeling a lot of the times and too many neighborhoods that you never end up going to. Henford has the errands that makes you go to other parts of the neighborhoods and feels more purposeful. Maybe its because i dont use the clubs in windenburg nor clubbing system but it just seems too expansive and empty at times. Henford has some collectables and the creature keeper and townie lore that goes along with the errand system. It just seems more cohesive
@@ayaninspire8142 same i was away at college with most of the sims 4 and stopped playing during this time but after playing with cottage living its my only motivation to use the sims now
The heels that came with Luxury Party Stuff are my favorite in game, and I do enjoy the dresses. Idk why they don't give us actual heels in CAS anymore.
Ikr? I got it for free with the Epic games deal and I find myself using the CAS all the time. The heals are really nice and I enjoy all the pretty sparkly dresses we got (even if the color choices and texture quality are kinda awful actually)
The sims team always seems to forget about shoes. Even some extra recolors of the base game shoes would be nice. That said since thet gave us the ability to change the tone ans opacity of the make up I use the luxury party eye make-up quite a bit now.
We need more shoes in general.... If I remember there are literally only 3 pairs of shoes that are tagged as Streetwear fashion preference lol. The City Living heeled boots, the HSY sandals, and then the City Living sneakers.... And then masculine frames only get 2 because they don't get the heeled boots lol =\
Same. I got it free, but I really only use the CAS stuff.... I don't even know what came with the build/buy because I don't remember ever using it... Maybe it comes with like a beverage fountain I used 1 time.... I think I have used all the outfits at least once because of the fashion preferences that got assigned to them added some variety for my sims. Maybe there's a couple I haven't used. I know the one short dress I specifically used because I had a sim that liked blue and orange and one of it's swatches was blue and orange lol. I do tend to use the Masculine and feminine shoes from that pack quite a bit though. I personally think a lot of the dress shoes for masculine sims are weird looking but the Luxury Party shoes are really nice.
I really don't understand why Spa Day gets so much hate. I personally use it EVERY time I play, dropping by the spa is a great way to erase all the abuse I put my poor Sims through so I can start the next round of it! 😈 Also, having a yoga mat/meditation stool on your home lot is a HUGE boost to controlling your sims mood. Need to bust out a book? Do a yoga routine first and get 8 hours of inspiration! I know it's very focused in on it's theme but I think it's a great theme that can fit in to any sims life in 1 way or another.
james, you're a cinematic mastermind! i think as a community, we should all take the time to appreciate the massive effort that went into making this video
Awesome as always!!! EA should pay you for doing this research. I don't understand how Eco Livestyle and City Living are so low -- can't imagine playing without them - it's not just a one and done
I honestly did not enjoy Eco Lifestyle, it’s always so interesting to me that others love it so much. It’s one of the only packs I almost never touch in terms of gameplay, world, and cas
i felt the same! i genuinely can't play this game without eco lifestyle. buying wallpaper that lowers my bills? buying solar panels that lowers my bills? And mood buffs when a neighborhood is green. I need all of that. City living is the most op world to start a rags to riches in bc of the posters and cheap rent possibilities. I start most of my sims in that world.
I want eco but don’t have it yet. But I am always using city living. It’s such a different vibe from all the suburbia worlds and there are just sims I couldn’t see living anywhere else.
@@TheDawnofVanlife I currently don't like living in the city, although that might change with For Rent. But I love the rest of the gameplay enough and I enjoy coming out for the festivals and such, that I still really enjoy City Living. I swear by Eco. I use the BB items in every build. Not just for the reduced bills, but I also quite how many of them look and they're so versatile. The fabrication and dumpster diving are also must haves. I recommend it whole-heartedly.
@@WelcomeApathySee I still see Tomerang as a different vibe from San Myshuno so it depends on the Sim, not me. I play family rotations and the Sims I have in San Myshuno I don't see moving to Tomerang. Those Sims are metropolitan city types. The new Tomerang exist on that border of not quite big city but not quite suburbia. It's a more homey family and community vibe than San Myshuno. San Myshuno is nightlife and BIG city. I try to house the folks in my rotation based on personalities and chart their children's life (and future places they move to) based in their personalities. San Myshuno and Tomerang are very different choices.
With the holiday worlds (minus Batuu, sorry), I wish they would get converted to "normal" worlds with rental lot types like we got in later packs/expansions. - I personally tend to forget they exsist which is a shame with Selvadorada especially.
Totally agree. I've once downloaded a mod that allowed you to live in them, but its very odd they didn't just allow you to live in them when they added the vacation lot type allowing for vacation places everywhere
I had a lot of fun doing the survey and it's so well done, it really helps you out deciding which pack to get on the next sale 😊Doing a category for which packs are the most buggy seems very fitting. Definitely we are gonna have fun with that one 😄
yeah, just a "game performance" rating would be really nice. Then you can separate out good gameplay ideas that are just too buggy from bad ideas that function well.
i know the refresh concept went away as soon as the first one was released, but i would love to see a Realm of Magic refresh, specifically to make it more cross-pack compatible. i feel like there is a lot of potential for spells related to concepts that came from other packs, such as using magic to manipulate the weather.
That grinds my gears the most. You go and refresh a pack not a lot of people care about and act surprised it didn't sell well? Meanwhile you leave your early stuff packs to rot with little content in them. At least computer players have mods...which I shouldn't be saying for any game.
I’m surprised Spa Day and Get Together were ranked as low as they were I love them both! Pretty much all my sims get into yoga and meditation and I like being a freelance massage therapist because I can take the table with me and pop it up anywhere. And Get Together is just an icon. I think it was my first expansion pack I ever bought
+100000, the ratings..I dont understand!! I use spa day so often, it so much fun (especially with get together where you can make chillin girl club or make visiting spa, yoga/mediation skills as a good healthy sims lifestyle or for example make a girly spot in spa for before wedding party..) omg there are so many ideas and opportunities for this pack. The whole theme in spa day is so relaxing. Get Together is also so underrated. Really, these packs are replayable and varied more than cottage living in my opinion, you can make a lot of different lifes and stories with GT and SD
I can imagine why the Desert Luxe Kit hasn't changed in regard to how many people own it. That's often a problem with steep "early bird" types of deals -- when buyers know they missed a deal on something, they're dissuaded from buying it later at regular price because paying more feels bad. It's like reverse FOMO.
Ahhh, I never even realized Desert Luxe was free at one point! I'll be honest, as someone who got into CC only recently, I always was using the Desert Luxe items in my build. I'd reach for that pack as often as Snowy Escape, Home Chef Hustle, and Dream Home Decorator build/buy, in terms of realistic colour ways/swatches. The Desert Luxe sofa is hands-down my favourite Maxis furniture item for Sims 4, I was using it in every build, same with the curtain system. I also like beige, though- so do with that knowledge what you will lol
This is so helpful, James! As a very late player to the Sims 4 game (I was pulled from Sims 3 kicking and screaming), I didn't know what packs were good and was afraid to dive in and buy all the bad ones and run screaming. This is gold because it is real players, giving real feedback. Just splendid. Thank you to everyone who contributed to this to help the rest of us out! And poor Batuu is a little polarizing, to put it mildly! It is funny that I did buy Sims 4 Seasons before seeing this, because I loved Seasons in Sims 3 so much, I just had to get it. And I don't regret it at all!
I still think you should also pick what you enjoy despite what others opinions might be. I have found alot of stuff others like (like laundry) are stuff I think is a wasted pack idea while others think it's the bee's knees. With the sims whatever you enjoy is subjective and I think that's what makes the game more interesting.
Honestly the packs you need to know about are the buggy ones like my wedding stories and dine out. All the rest of them are very subjective. This is a good list somewhat in tune with community sentiment but if you loved university and wanted your sims to go to university and spent the time making sims for it or getting mods, it can easily be your best pack, even if it is not high on the list. I love get famous and there is a whole community that only play celebrity sims and yet that is really low. Really sims packs are much of a muchness and you should only use this as a guide and pick the ones you like the look of best!
If you’re new buy Seasons, cats and dogs if you miss animals, get together (better socialising between sims since it’s harder now without the open world) and additionally get to work mainly because of the retail option and selling stuff which is awesome. Werewolves and vampires is just a quick crash grab in my opinion and will NEVER surpass sims 3 supernatural plus real FAIRIES.
A category I would recommend is maybe having us vote on “How likely are you to recommend this pack?” On a scale of 1-10. It would be pretty good at getting an overall scale of how liked a pack is cos I feel like dream home decorator would be nowhere near the top lol
6:42 Backyard Stuff is a must for the summer for me. There's not much to do in The Sims 4 in the summer. No set holidays. So I usually host parties for my kids and have their friends over for lemonade and sliding.
i was so shocked with how low get together was rated! it's really fun when you know how to play with it tbh. it's easily one of my favourite packs, defo in my top 3. it completely changed my gameplay with the club system. my sims actually have friends when i make a club and it's always really interesting to choose what traits and what you want your club to do. it's great for friend groups, or for things like a book club or a debate club, i use that a lot for university. (study clubs are really good for that too, i never use the university clubs, they are always broken for me lmao) the cas is fun, the tudor style for building is amazing to play with and create, and i like how there is a modern vibe to it as well. it's fun to make an old-style home look new. and of course, those white plain GT columns are a must in every build, i love the closets and the games you can play. sure, i don't use the darts or the foosball table everytime, or even the dance floors, but when i do, it's so much fun. the actual clubbing is really fun for me too, i love making families where the teens sneak out and dance with their friends, or a group of young adults who party all night. it's fun and different from the usual family gameplay, although i do like to make families live in that world, it's fun to make crazy rich europeans live in amazing tudor homes, or modern houses on the island. it's always funny to see the randomized townies go clubbing, like a sim's mother dancing with a grandma or seeing the occasional nancy landgraab and bella goth. the bluffs and the ancient ruins are really fun to play with, organizing and getting invited to the parties really fun with all of the lights and people there, it's one of the only times that a place in the sims is packed and the dj's are so cool. i wish a dj career came with it though, that's probably my only downside. and how the cafe's are really broken. i love the world and the European style, it's so different to oasis springs and willow creek, and it's such a pretty world. i love the size and the different districts, like the older side of town, the private island, the countryside and the modern hang out spot. it gives my sims places to go, i don't usually build community lots so it's fun to have places to go. the townies are cool too, i love the behr sisters and the villarael's are so mysterious, sure the builds could be better for them, but it's old, it's expected to be a bit ugly. everyone has their own opinions, but to me it's a great pack and i wish it was higher rated lol. i couldn't play without it! :)
A "how buggy is it?" category will also need to be tied to a "when did you last play this content?" question, to be a useful statistic at all. Many people do not revisit content frequently - There's a lot of it! - and especially not the less popular content. This question would also need a reminder to evaluate the content *without* mods - Especially Dine Out and MWS, as mods to change that gameplay are particularly prevalent. That could lead to a question of do people use mods to change gameplay from any pack though! Which would be an interesting statistic (and probably useful for console players to know before buying, since they're stuck with default functionality/bugs).
Its so crazy how everyones gameplay is different. A lot of the least voted packs like get to work and spa day and my wedding stories and not well liked coz i absolutely adore those packs!
So sad about Wedding Stories. It works very well for me, and i know it doesn't for most people, but it makes for so many memorable and emotional moments for my Sims. Wish they could fix it for everyone.
This had SUCH informative statistical data- it is just what I needed while looking through all of the packs and kits on sale right now! You totally sold me on Werewolves, too (mostly for the builds you did) but also because I had no idea it was a pack v pack scenario in the game play! I learned so much about the highlights of the different packs! I also just found your video regarding your JAMES code and I am so happy to use it when I pay for my well-informed purchases! Thanks James, and Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and Deligracy!
Tiny living was the first DLC I bought for my game, and it's really good. 3 different lots, useful furniture that is super cute, lot perks while you are in game and it's cheaper because it's a stuff pack!
This is so interesting, thank you for doing this! My random comments while watching: - Outdoor retreat got significantly worse after seasons. The pack-specific plants should not be affected by the weather IMO. - Strangerville is so underrated😅 - Now that we have rental lots everywhere I wish they would open up the holiday worlds to normal worlds - I don't like occults, but had to get Werewolves for B&B! I remember being excited to not having to buy it and then I saw B&B and was like dammit, there goes my money😅 - I totally forgot there was gameplay in Dream Home Decorator🙈 - The Get to work detective career is also ruined after seasons, as your perp might nor have the clothes on that the APB says, if they are in their warm or cold weather outfits. - Britechester is beautiful but there's way too little lots to make it a vibrant world. - There's a few things I wish would be more replayable, eg. cleaning up the island in Sulani and cleaning up pollution in Eco Lifestyle. - I wish cats, dogs and horses weren't part of the family because I always play in the same save and the 150 sims per save runs out very quickly when adding animals! - Horse ranch was a surprise for me! I was not even going to get it at first, but it was so well-made! The horse aspect is actually the lamest part! I love the goat and sheep and especially build mode since it is super easy to make restricted builds with only Horse ranch and base game, which really shows how thought through B&B is! - Growing together gameplay is great, but the world is such a let down😔 So much potential, but it's so empty. And it's hard to make builds that fit into the world because the buildings around each lot are so stylized. - The Cottage living score really shows how well-rounded the pack is! Every aspect of it is thought through. Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk😅
I just recently did play through the high school years stuff. Literally turned aging off trying to get aspirations. The one is completely broken. In my opinion you cant complete it cause most join social bunny before the last level of it. And it wont give you the 250 followers unless you are on that part when it ticks over the 250 mark. The other thing is. Even though my sim was like best friends with every teen at school she was never invited out to a party. And thats something i was excited about.
As someone who was there (playing the Sims) but not there there (in the Sims community) back in the day, the only reason I even bought Get to Work - other than there being not a lot of packs back then - was that I loved the alien gameplay and the ability to have male pregnancies before the big gender customization update. Granted, it wasn't true to life from the point aliens were mentioned, but it was a story I wanted to tell through my Sims.
I completely agree. Now that there are other occults aliens do feel lacking, but the ability to make a conspiracy theory loner living in a trailer in Oasis Springs and then have him abducted by aliens was more than half of the reason I got that pack. I don't think I have ever played as a doctor but by heck I've made some aliens
I was so pleased to see Tiny Living did so well! You rarely hear people talk about it, but the gameplay is so fun! And it’s such a great challenge for builders!
Something to note about City Living is there’s frequent graphical glitches and lag issues on lower end computers and laptops that have only gotten worse as time has gone on, which I feel like is what is impacting its score. Still love the pack, just wish it worked better (like many things in this game)
I'm hyped to see how For Rent does next year with these results. I imagine it'll end up being a must-have staple pack - like how the City Living city/apartment life vibes are still quite popular, even though you can't actually customize the apartments in City Living.
Aw thank you!! I’m really proud of it! There’s a video of how I made it if you’re interested: th-cam.com/video/ig0BVCZwpN4/w-d-xo.htmlsi=iGYPMemxV44Q8nvG
It sounds crazy but I only started playing The Sims, particularly TS4, last year, so this type of video is very helpful for me. I'm also just a college student rn so I can't just splurge on every single TS4 pack right away, which makes this video essential aaaa Thank you for doing this again, Semaj!
I get so dad when Outdoor retreat doesnt get the love it deserves! It introduced vacation worlds! I used to spend weeks saving up to take my sims camping. It's definitely something I like because it reminds me of growing up, but damn Outdoor retreat, I can't live without it.
Its a bit odd for me because camping here only is allowed at specific campsites which are usually open fields so you can pitch your tent or caravan. And campsites also tend to have a proper shower and toilet block, a heated outdoor swimming pool, and generally they're close to the beach so you can go to the seaside as a short walk. So its a completely different style of camping in the game to what I grew up doing. Oh and for food you are allowed gas stove burners and you're usually close enough to a supermarket to pick up food to cook. We even had a cool thing to put on the stove that you rested slices of bread on to toast it. We made full cooked breakfasts of bacon, eggs, sausages, baked beans, and pancakes (proper ones not those chunky McDonald's style pancakes). All on a two burner camping stove. So much fun!
it would be cool to rate gameplay by ages too, like rate toddler, teen, elder, etc. i feel like that’s something simmers are paying more attention to (& thus maybe the sims team will too in the upcoming year). for example, outfits being available for children & toddlers but not infants, or the overall lack of teen & elder specific activities. it’d be cool to see what everyone thinks & how it changes with each pack!
How would scoring work for that though? Like vampires doesn't really feature any kids or elders content so given I don't play with either of those life stages I'd score it a 10 for both because it doesn't contain stuff I have no interest in. I spend more time going around editing all the sims in the worlds so they can't get or get others pregnant simply because having to see pregnant sims wandering around grosses me out (I'm severely tocophobic). So just don't have any use for kids stuff. And I play with aging off so I can play a bit more at my own pace. So no need for more elder stuff than there already is.
These videos are honestly so helpful. None of the packs I've bought since the last one were in the bottom half of the votes, and no regrets! Bring on the next one! 🎉
I always find this so interesting, I think it shows that packs have gotten better since 2014/2015, there's a reason the older packs are lower in their categories. I feel bad for Get to Work though, that world rating really brought it down a lot.
I laughed when he described skiing and snowboarding. Of course, it's just going up and then coming down. But that's what it's like when you actually snowboard or ski. (I don't spend a lot of time doing it in the game, but I frequently take them on a "day trip" to go do the various things, very similar to how I do the same thing in real life.)
This video has become my Bible when making Sims purchases. I was able to figure out the order I wanted to buy them in after watching this, and I recommend it to people ALL THE TIME. I now own every Expansion, all but two game packs, and will be utilizing this again to priorities the kits I still need. Can't wait to vote on this at the end of the year now that I've played more!
I started to do the survey, then realized I couldn’t remember a lot of details about some of the older packs so I stopped. I didn’t want to unfairly give something a bad score if I didn’t really remember how it worked.
As someone who enjoys working with data, I really loved this video. Thank you for not only taking the time to create the survey but to collect the results and visualize that data in such a fun video!
I’d love a category for the NPCs/townies related to the pack next year! It doesn’t necessarily influence wanting to buy the pack for those who don’t already own them but simmers in general are known to have quite loud opinions on them.
I love how James mentions spa day would be good if it was a feature in get famous because that's basically what going to the spa was in the sims 1 equivelant Sims superstar
@@slwrabbits I loved the gameplay once I figured out how it worked, there are workarounds around a lot of things (need to befriend normies? lock your superstar up in a hottub by blocking the way out and invite people into the hottub, that kind of stuff)
@@slwrabbits honestly the hottub is such a useful tool!!! it raises so many things, whenever I want two sims married I use it because it's just THE way to get them comfortable, clean and social
I personally love Snowy Escape so much. Being Asian, I appreciate having elements I can relate to and I like that it's kinda open worldy, like you can hike and get moodlets. And it also has festivals like City Living. I like combining the build elements w Spa Day. I am giddy for the new pack and look forward to seeing more diverse worlds in the Sims4.
thank you so much!! with black friday and cyber monday coming up (happening now actly), many will be buying discounted packs (me included) and videos like these wld help us make much more informed & financial decisions!
Thank you James for your hard-work. You should totally keep doing the survey each year, it makes it more interesting to compare datas. Also, I have been hesitant about which kits to buy, so I am gonna use the kits rating to do some shopping 😊
BTW!!!!! None of you give the conservationist career enough love, because at the manager branch you get to place policies that have effect outside Sulani. Try it
As a German I love building with Get Together so much because I know these old buildings we call Fachwerkhaus better than American suburban homes that I've only seen in movies and tv shows. For me personally it was a must have to build something that feels like home to me.
The reason I rated Snowy Escape so low is because the Mountain Climbing has been bugged for me from the beginning. Never once was able to actually make the excursion to that summit work, which is such a shame.
Thanks for all your hard work on this. I had to suspend my membership, but you obviously worked very hard on this. You deserve credit. 😁❤ Oh, yes, I love the idea of you adding a"buggy" catagory!
I really enjoy these videos, and I think they must be so helpful for people new to the game which we probably have a lot of now because base game is now free. I think journey to Batu would’ve worked better as a standalone game, more like the Sims 3 Medieval. I think it would’ve loaned itself much better to blending the worlds of Star Wars and the Sims together.
This is one of my favorite new traditions, watching your Sims survey every year. It got me to actually start playing the Sims last year! It helped me decide how I wanted to approach the gameplay AND i ended up bingeing a lot of your Let's Play Bigwallet series.
Always interesting to see the results of these, especially the way you compile the data. I do think Growing Together was rated too high, because if you remove the infant basegame update it feels like an incomplete pack. I think if they'd done more milestone/gameplay for the other child stages it might've felt more complete.
This might have something to do with the survey takers being James' viewers. Likely, like him, they play more build/gameplay-focused games than CAS-focused and consequently don't care as much about CAS specific kits.
I'm one of the people who very highly rated the Batuu build & buy. It has the best stone floor textires in the game. The pendant lights are detailed and stunnig, There are highly detailed decorative cabinets. It has lots of stuff that's great for steampunk, industrial, and space builds. And in debug it's rediculously good, including the massive doorway, whole ships and robots, toy Ewoks, stone path/planter edging, and loads of other stuff. The quests are lame and broken, but the builder in me is in love.
I really enjoyed filling out the survey and the results were really fun to watch. The data was also super interesting, definitely happy to do it again next year
I thought the horses looked cool and I know how much goes into animating them in general, but I didn't think I was going to love the pack as much as I have. Nectar making is one of my favorite things. The world is super enjoyable. The horses are fun. The BB is masterclass! While I was never as negative about the pack as I saw a lot of people being when it was announced, I was surprised by how much I love it.
I would be interested in knowing what packs people WOULD get if they weren't buggy/broken. Like how popular packs would be if they worked as advertised. For example; I would be 9/10 interested in buying Dine Out if it worked.
I love that you do this. I literally only own the base game and Get to Work. I haven’t played the Sims 4 because I got board of it and moved to other things. I want to play it, and honestly live vicariously through TH-cam, but I get so overwhelmed with all the stuff packs, game packs, and so on. Lists like this help me focus on what I really want to play. Or at least add what I want to wishlists. 😊
Something that I think gets slept on in City Living is the collection element to it. Especially trying different meals and through trying them learning the recipes and how to make them (there are like 27 recipes I think). I use it a lot, but maybe I’m weird.
Seriously, you will always be my favorite sims content creator. I mean look at this video, this is so much work and it's so well done! And you are not even being sponsored for that. You are great at what you do, James, please understand that!!!!
I would love to see a metric on players who *have* and *do not have* Custom Content. I wonder if there are correlations with how bugged playability is with that metric applied. Excellent video and I really looked forward to the results.
There are quite a few of us who have no custom content and still have very buggy gameplay. I actually went back to Sims 2 for a while because at least I knew what the bugs were and how I could get around them - there would not be new bugs every time I loaded the game. It took the kitchen vs. bathroom sink update to get back to playing Sims 4.
i really hope that they continue pack refreshes and if you had a category where we could vote for which one we wanted to be refreshed the most maybe it would help the sims team
Thank you so much for doing this again. The number of participants was pleasantly surprising and it gives me a good idea of what packs to put in my builds if I want them to be accessible for downloads from the gallery.
I think for the next survey James could add replayability in the game and expansion packs options, cause that its a important aspect to know before buying one of this packs
I love this! You have to do this every year 😇 Cottage living, growing together and horse ranch are my favourites! I wish dine out and dream home decoration would not be so buggy
I feel like packs are very inconsistent. If you get great gameplay, you may not get a world; if you get an amazing world, gameplay may be limited or buggy. I just wish packs had more consistency. And Kits suck so much. I can't believe so many people actually buy them. It's The Sims 3 Store all over again.
I never thought I cared about get to work but then my EA play membership ended and I lost it and I learned that every single build I had built had get to work in it... so yeah I guess I stan get to work too
I feel like the kits were rated so low because kits as a concept is still p*ssing people off but I genuinely think some of the ratings (e.g. country kitchen, throwback kit etc) don't make any sense, those kits are sooo good. Also justice for menswear because while there are a few pieces in it that are more let's say... fashion forward, many of the pieces like the skirt and sweaters are so freaking versatile, I'm using them on both masc and fem frames. Overall, I'm pretty sure the kits didn't get much love simply because they're kinda controversial. Except bust the dust, that one eats a** 😂
I think you're right about that, but there's also the fact some kits are just very niche and were designed to be so. I never touch Modern Menswear, but I swear by the Carnaval kit and will defend it forever bc I always felt like we were in desperate need of good hot weather CAS and the Carnaval kit works really well for this. But then I'm also a brazilian player, so maybe the kit's style just reflects my expectations of hot weather clothing better, in which case kudos to them for representing the culture right (high-key better than Jungle Adventure ever did)
@@dreamerbee I fully agree, I think it's kind of difficult to truthfully "rate" the kits simply because they cater to different play styles. The only rating one could really give is for the gameplay (if it's broken or not) but even then it's difficult because only a few of them have any gameplay at all. I like the streetwear kit too ☺
I think a "novelty" or "re-playability" rating would be good to add next year. As you were saying, some of the ratings on new packs are probably higher because of the fresh content, while there are a lot of packs where you play through a feature once and then move on. I would be curious to see how the community feels as well.
Any results suprise you?
With over 23,000 of you graciously completing my survey to rate all of the packs in Sims 4 I was able to put together this video!
If you want to know how I organised the data, or just quickly view the pack rankings, or even download the source data, you can find it on my website here: jamesturner.yt/sims-pack-ratings
Thanks again so much to those who participated in the survey, we had so many more get involved this year and I really appreciate it!
Can't wait to see this list in 2025 😄
Interesting seeing what makes other people like packs. Personally when I add a pack I just add it and keep playing forward where I am at. I also wait for sales and tend to buy packs that will enhance/impact my gameplay. Going to School (High School and College) can never get boring because going to school with Mike and going to school in the 'future' with his daughter Kelsey won't be the 'same' experience by default. They won't join the same clubs or like the same things. They will have different friendship groups and different romances along the way. Playing a studious student and playing a rebellious is totally different. Like with parenthood and growing together you can explore the results of being both a good and bad parent. To me that's the longevity of a pack. Not buying it and attacking/playing every feature in a lump. If it doesn't naturally fit into my established families, I won't even get to that part of the pack until it does.
Would be a cool addition to the survey next year, if you got your personal result, your own score list at the end!
Werewolves has a lot of L€$bi@n undertones James, and straight women are OBSESSED with their secret bi side so the Werewolves pack is to them that escape, even though real masculine women don’t even know the sims exist, for example im a gay guy and that’s different, I’m obsessed with straight men and journey to Batuu means to me that tiny connection with the straight men world, I literally sent my sim self husband on a journey to Batuu and he made me proud, so yeah. It’s something that never gets talked about because at the end of the day it’s women the majority of simmers and gay guys of course, straight men playing sims are very rare like you or CallMeKevin and I appreciate that honestly you are the best , but yeah that’s the reason why Werewolves Pack is top 1 and why Batuu is the last. Have u seen any big TH-camr female simmer and how they always get this household with a couple of Romantic females and one is big, chubby with the manly walk ?? It’s cause that’s their deepest fantasy and that’s ok, sorry, I’m a Virgo and I get word vomit sometimes 😭😭😭 but you gotta trust it’s the truth and it’s never a lie
Thanks for all the work you put into this every year!
I bet James was so proud of his audience for rating my first pets stuff the lowest 😂
I'm probably one of the few that gave it a semi good rating. I actually don't like the cats and dogs pack with the only thing I ever use in it being the world. I love small animals and while I wish there was far more it was the only reason that was higher than pets for me. I'll be honest a chunk of packs others really like (with the exception of werewolves, it's a good damn GP) I don't actually use so I'm not shocked that the packs I enjoy didn't score vary high. I just don't find highschools and universities as interesting gameplay - i spend more time watching than actually doing anything (seriously laundry... why is that rated so high? You do less in it than you do with the little pets! Laundry to me was a wasted a pack.)
I rated it high because of the coffee table... lol
Did anyone see it’s free on EA right now? 😂 I bet James still doesn’t get it and I wonder if it’s their response to it being the lowest in his video 🤔😅😂
@@laurab3000James has it, he got it to review. He just doesn’t have it installed :)
Yes it's free now on ea
As a professional survey researcher being able to download the data is such a treat. Thank you!
No problem! If you make an interesting observations, please share! I am not skilled in analysing data haha
It would have been interesting to have gender, age, play frequency and a few other things in there to see who actually prefers which packs (maybe even some signifance testing). Also the overall rating of packs seems skewed. I wonder if people buy a pack more likely for a good world even if game play is bad.
@@goneawaytonzmaybe even a “how many hours have you played the sims 4”
@@goneawaytonzyeah! It would be neat to see things like where in the world ppl are located and if that lines up with their preferred worlds/style
@@goneawaytonzfor a while I was only buying packs for the build but items before I actually started doing gameplay. Lol so this is totally valid!
You should add a rating for how influenced your voting was by bugs
Also should add an option on replay-ability!
Agree ! On both counts !!! For example, I was really stuck on how to rank Dine Out gameplay, and a couple of others because I love the idea of the gameplay but then fact that it just doesn't work tanks the score !
Also, some packs are sooooooo much fun for "one shot gameplay" I genuinly enjoyed some things rhe first time I did them... have I ever used those gameplay elements again ? NOPE so it's hard to rate them highly when you don't get a sense of "money's worth" whereas some other packs aren't initialy as much fun... but I find myself using the gameplay elements constantly across all my saves so there is the sense of "worth the money"
Right!? Wedding stories has excellent CAS and build but is BROKEN
I thought that was the point of the game play score. If the cas and build items were good, I gave good scores for those categories. If it bugged my game, I gave poorer game play scores because the bugs are detrimental to the gameplay.
Yess!! Or just the option to give general comments (or maybe just a follow-up video going through some comments from this video!)
Justice for Get to Work!! If any expansion deserves a refresh it's that one. They could add so much to the careers to make them exciting again - even if they just added a whole new career - and if they updated aliens to be more in depth like later occults, I bet ratings would skyrocket
GTW is still the most fun I think I've had playing The Sims 4 since it launched. The science career with its layered tasks and rewards was great. You're right it could really be updated and be even better though.
I feel like it's underrated because it's viewed as a default pack. It is so uninteresting because of that. But I think it adds so much depth to the gameplay even if I don't play it a lot... Just knowing that my Sim has the option to have a fully immersed job makes the world feel less calculated. And the retail store option is so cool.
This is also one of my Top 3 simply because of the retail store. I've played Open for Business a LOT back during Sims 2 and the retail store is compatible with every expansion pack in-game simply because it allows you to sell every sellable item in a unique way. Instead of just selling it using Buy Mode.
I agree I love Get to Work and it breaks my heart to see it so low
Add a veterinarian career, as opposed to having to buy a clinic
I feel like there should be a companion survey - for the packs you don’t own, are they a) I want that b) maybe when it goes on sale c) only if it’s free or d) do not put that in my game
i didn’t vote because i didn’t have all the packs so this is a good idea !
Get Together is probably the most underrated pack... the club system is so versatile and i feel like most people just dont get deep enough in to realise that but my game without that pack would be so different and also much harder
It changed the way I ever played! My sims actually have friends now!
I kind of always forget about Get Together somehow. I even have clubs. Like I have study clubs for kids and teens. I have a knitting club..... I just always forget about it lol. I get that popup so often saying something along the lines of "We haven't had a gathering in a while for Group ABC. Should we have one?" Lol. I do like Windenburg though from Get Together. It is soooooo big and has so many lots so I think it's worth it even if you're like me and forget about the clubs lol. (It also has most of the games storybook decor if you're really into DHD preferences when you decorate lol.) That's one thing I wish we could see before buying a pack... Now that you can pick preferences I wish there was a way to see what things get tagged before you buy them. Like you can see all the items but you can't really see how they are going to get categorized. IE Modern Luxe.... Is it going to be categorized as modern? Or Luxe decor style? (The correct answer is Luxe) That wouldn't necessarily be the determining factor for me to buy... Like if I like the stuff I'll buy it... But for gameplay and storytelling it would just be nice to maybe have some of that information in advance lol. Like I can prep a sim better for an upcoming pack if I have more of that info lol. Like not even every item would have to be labeled but they could make one of the description bullet points say something along the lines of the general or most used design style in the pack. Maybe that's just me though.... I get really into sims preferences... So much so I have some really weird builds because my sims had some really weird design ideas lol. Like Cosmolux/Island... Weird combo lol.
Also for us Europeans its one of the few ones that don't scream too american in the world department. as I really don't like werewolves, high school years and basegame worlds at all.
I also like how the pack added raves and not sure if it was get together that added that, but I think it was, the phone calls and text messages that kind of added more ways to passively have social interactions and invitations. It would be a more solitary existence for sims without it I feel, also current social medias in the game are so surface level they might not exist at all and I wouldn't even notice. kind of wish they added something more to it
Absolutely and if you are on pc and have mc command you can update the number of group members.I have mine set at 25, when the >youth party goers< club (set to single ya and adults) go clubbing, it looks and feels like it.
Not to mention it can help by setting the vibe of the club (friendly/flirty/confident) or improving skills via the boost. So many uses and cross pack compatibility for once! Get the club working on a rocket ship or the farm or cleaning up Sulani. Have clubs rival one another. Get the family or kids together without worrying about the fact that your sim has suddenly 'forgotten' someone they once knew or not been introduced.
Yeah, big club fan here! Just wish they added more stuff retroactively, like from say...*cough*batuu*cough*
I think we can easily pinpoint the expansion and game pack popularity requirements from this - and you said it yourself James - replayability. If the content fits every world and every gameplay you do, then it's great. If it's something you might do once or twice, it's a waste of money. Thanks for your hard work and effort here, James. Brilliant video. Hope we get another one next year.
I think there’s a wildcard 😂element when it comes to Sims tho. Like I folded and got dine out because (stupidly) the restaurant lot type doesn’t exist without Dine out. My sims can’t even patronize actual restaurants without it and for just the lot type, not the gameplay of running a restaurant in dine out I ended up getting it. Technically I do use it all the time but just so every world isn’t stick with Nightclubs, Bars, and gyms as their only community lots. Not to run a restaurant.
I think there are times where the packs intended gameplay might not be the reason you actually buy it. Gonna be honest, I really wanted bikes and that’s how I got motivated to get Discover University. The family I am playing right now has toddlers and I am far from needing to send any Sim I am playing right now to college and I don’t jump life stages just to play a pack. I have a custom long life cycle and play family rotations. This is were the peicemeal packs kinda suck. Like with Sims 2 and 3 even if I used a quarter of the pack, it was so much. Now I find myself buying the whole Discover University pack for bikes.
I honestly think City Living has been my most worthwhile purchase so far. I use so many features of that pack and the world on a daily basis where as I keep forgetting Magnolia Promenade exist and basically just wanted the hospital. Luckily I get most things in sales or bundles.
@@TheDawnofVanlife Lol I bought parenthood for a rug. At least the bikes have utility. I just don't really care about kids in the sims (although with growing together it's gotten a bit better) and could have easily skipped it, except I kept watching build videos with pretty rugs in them.
I'm SO shocked how low Gwt Together is. I guess the CAS isn't really strong, but I use clubs ALL THE TIME just purely to summon a group of sims. All the cousins in a legacy challenge? A homework group? Meeting eligible bachelors? Forcing a sim and a celebrity to be friends? It's SO useful of you don't play with mod cheats
I have to imagine most of James' viewers are builders lmao. I honestly barely ever play, usually it's to test out a home before I send it to the gallery and then I get distracted and play a bit. So for me, Get Together build stuff is nice but not as nice as some other packs. I notice I tend to use stuff from Tiny living, Seasons, Dream Home and Cottage living. And I 100% see myself using Horse Ranch, Growing Together, and even High School to build once they come out for 50% off hehe.
@@Jinglesbellezmaybe... I'm definitely not a builder. I enjoy James's content for the gameplay although I recognise he's an awesome builder.
@@roseability86 yes I was initially drawn towards his builds, but stayed for the chaos of the big wallet family 😂
I’ll never forget our matriarch and savior Lady Bigwallet the first.
@@roseability86are you into CAS though, storytelling or more into gameplay
Get together is a) lots of lots and b) that grouping function you described. There’s nothing else to it. It’s not an expansion pack. Not even a game pack. Probably clubs should have been a base game feature and there shouldn’t even be a get together.
I agree that rating the "bugginess" of the pack would be useful. It would help to know how much of the game is affected by the bugs, too. For example:
- No bugs (or just regular Sims bugs lol)
- Minor Annoyance/Visual Glitches
- Broken CAS clothing/items
- Broken CAS Sims features
- Broken Build/Buy items
- Broken gameplay
- Breaks other packs gameplay
- Breaks base game gameplay
This would be better as a list with checkmarks instead of a scale from 1-10 since each pack could have a different collection of issues that might matter to different players.
I think this is a good idea in theory but I think this would also be hard to track.... Like yeah MWS is still bugging to this day, but it is less buggy than it was when it launched. Bugs come and some go (albeit some longer than others) Earlier this year DHD was broken and the career was unplayable because jobs couldn't complete and you therefore couldn't get paid or progress.... But it wasn't like that when it launched and it doesn't seem to be a current issue (at least for me) when I took the survey. Some packs are just always buggy like Dine Out and MWS but others just kind of break here and there and a lot of time breaks are triggered by updates, new packs, etc. Also bugs can be so inconsistent. Like there are bugs in the game that I read about people experiencing, but I never have an issue with, or vise versa, so that could be just a really inaccurate stat. Just because I rated that it's not buggy, doesn't mean it's not buggy... It just means I didn't experience a bug (or found it irrelevant enough that it didn't really effect much like an outfit clipping or something) It would definitely get to hard to track bugginess consistently and that would greatly depend on what was active when the survey happened and not necessarily a reflection on the pack as a whole. Again, I know some packs as a whole are buggy all the time, like MWS, but not all packs have a consistent bug so it wouldn't be as fair to rate them all that way. Like I think DHD is one of my favorite packs. Yes when it bugged it was really annoying, but as a whole it's not ALWAYS bugged and it is still one of my favorite packs. Also, again, it wasn't bugged at the time the survey came out.
I’ve seen so many “which sims 4 pack should you buy” videos, and this one is BY FAR the absolute most detailed and best for people who really need help figuring out which packs to get. Great job James!!
Can we please do this every year? ❤
He said that’s the plan!!
That's the plan!
@@JamesTurnerYTI'll be participating next year.
i love your profile picture!
@@dolllhands thank you fellow swiftie 🫶🏼 yours is soooo pretty too
James (paraphrased): When we get lost in a Let's Play and it grows beyond the pack and we tell all these stories, that's when I know the pack is really good.
Meanwhile, in the Bigwallets there was the soap opera that was Get Famous and the 25 Episode quest to revive the dead party members of Discover University.
There is something to be said about how someone's game style affects their enjoyment. If someone would rather have a story created for them instead of creating the story, they will favor the packs that enable their gameplay.
That's not knocking anyone either.
God, those were the best sidequests in SimSupply history.
They really should just turn the vacation worlds into normal worlds, since they don't make more, and added rental lots to normal worlds. Except for Batuu, I suppose.
Really, I just want to be able to live in Granite Falls.
If they had the idea for this in the works before making these worlds I think they would do this, but cause of how it's coded I reckon it's too much time to unweave that code and make them residentall which is why we haven't see them updated.
I really wish I could live in JA's world (I wanted to put a sims version of the Encanto family there)
I love the idea of living in San Myshuno as a young adult, moving to San Sequoia to raise a family, then retiring to Granite Falls. Alas!
If you're on PC, Zerbu made an All Worlds Are Residential mod. You'll need a venue changing mod to swap the lot types in the Destination Worlds, but they have that too.
I haven't had any issues with it so far.
I think you can add vacation homes to regular worlds. But yea it would be nice to just have them put together instead of their own category.
I completely agree with you!! It makes no sense that they added the rental lot type but kept vacation worlds. They either need to remove vacation worlds or do an overhaul and expand on it. Side note - If you have the Paranormal pack you can make a haunted lot and live in granite falls. :)
I’m actually so peeved that island living did better than get together 😂 get together is a way better pack in general
TRUE. and it’s much more versatile i’d say
I honestly thought the groups were way too needy. My teen was in high school and the group is like “We haven’t hung out in a while… 😢” during her school day, when they literally hung out like two days ago.
Honestly I feel like Get Together is always done dirty. SUCH a top tier pack!
Agreed, it might take some creativity, but there are so many options. I use it for retirement homes for instance (a "group" where they do knitting, play chess, etc) to make them feel more alive and used "correctly".
Or you can do the CallMeKevin thing and make a cult, lol.
It's the sole reason any of my Sims have succeeded in the child social aspiration
I use it so often when I play Sims 4. Its one of the features of 4 I really wish is in 3 (I currently play 3 more than 4)
Truly one of my favorite packs!
@@nannasofie This could be great in combo with 4 Rent - make a whole elder sims/retirement apartment complex with integrated clubs for the different activities those kinds of places will have (so like knitting and gossiping, chess and reading, walking/hiking and yoga/tai chi). And can have different people in different groups - set up some club rivalries, etc, etc.
for anyone using this as a buying guide, the best way to determine whether you want a pack or not imo, especially for stuff packs and kits, is to just look at the items and features and decide if you want to pay for it. the only objective thing you can measure about a pack is whether or not it works, so just make sure to look that up as well
Exactly. Everything besides how well it works is entirely opinion based and each person may not want the same things in their Sims game.
Absolutely! I can't help thinking the 12 or so folks who rated Cottage Living as zeros probably were gifted the pack rather than buying it themselves, and it just really isn't their thing at ALL, which means they wouldn't have paid for it unless it was out of obligation for their job or as a collector's compulsion (or for the early order bonus items >_>) But not having paid for it at all seems far more likely. As long as it's not buggy as heck, your own personal preference is all that matters. There are very few packs I would recommend for every single playstyle. Actually, just Seasons, regardless of if you play family-oriented or not, or are a CAS or build mode specialist who does very little live mode gameplay, it has quite a lot of utility in every aspect imo- seasons can affect how lots look for build mode in several ways, there are 2 new outfit categories you can style on everyone CAS-wise, and of course, lots of gameplay with holidays and weather. Truly something for everyone imo, though for sure look into it before purchasing, and generally speaking for any sims purchase wait for a sale. Whereas if you don't like cottagecore or farming, Cottage living is definitely not for you, even though it's the highest rated! :P
100%, this is why I turn people away from Seasons if they dont have many or any packs. I have had some fun with it, but only because I have a ton of other packs to flesh out gameplay.
Actually, I agree. Just learning more about the packs will help you decide which packs that would interest you and thus you'd get a bigger bang for the buck. As en example: you may hear about how good Seasons is with the weather, but maybe Discover University might be the one for you cause of the gameplay of studying at a university and the general asthetic of the cast stuff might be more to your pleasing.
@@mattrose99 I'd probably still recommend Seasons if they already are happy with the base game, but I still agree with this. It's not an expansion that ADDS a lot to the game, but instead it's an expansion that BOOSTS what you already have.
It’s crazy that they did a whole expansion on high school but didn’t do an update to make teens look like teens and not just young adults.
Yuuuup. Was really hoping for a teen update with this one 😞
It's possible that it just can't be done. There's a difference between adding an entirely new life stage and editing an already existing one. They'd have to keep them relatively the same size unless they wanted to break ALL existing teens (pre-made and player made) cuz they'd need new clothes and such which wouldn't work on new teens.
And they likely can't do what modders do and just shrink the current teens so that it all works either.
I do think they could stand to make teens be a bit more baby faced than they already are cuz it's hard to tell unless you're switching between them being teen and young adult in CAS.
@@moonlitxangel5771 Almost all of the infants clothes are from toddlers, at least the base game ones are, so I’d imagine the sims could do that for young adult to teens. Also, there are mods that offer different heights and those modders have been able to figure out how to change sims heights and not have the clothes break.
I think the main thing with height is that it makes all the animations look bugged and weird. Like hugging and kissing is all messed up. So they'd have to redo all the animations for teens and those they interact with. @@sophiag612
I think the teens look fine in the sims. However, I wish they were more consious about the type of clothes they added with High School Years. There are some clothes in there with very deep cleavages or cut outs and I don't think that's really appropiate for teens, especially if we go off on American HS ages being 14 to 17
Tartosa deserves some recognition, it carried my wedding stories. Without the world the pack would be complete ass
Tartosa has a very good rating!
It's so sad honestly. I loved having a mediterranean/italian world in the Sims 3 and really really wished that we would get one in the Sims 4. But it coming with my Wedding stories, a Pack that is just objectively bad, made me not buy it and now my chance of having a really cool mediterranean world is gone...
@@melinaalba63plenty of people use the world and not the wedding feature.
@@melinaalba63 there is a mod allowing you to have weddings the old way even with My Wedding Stories installed. That way you can have the world and weddings that actually work. I admit I bought the pack specifically for the world and it really is gorgeous. From my personal perspective it was worth the money.
it has great clothes for formal attire
Eco Lifestyle was ROBBED! Great vid ❤
No wayyy, hahah
Get To Work*
You should do a build challenge with just the top 10 owned packs
it would be great to then do the least 10 owned packs and compare the two
I love these ideas!
@@BladeX11883 yes great idea!
@@BladeX11883 bottom 10 *that contain build items...the bottom 10 are all CAS kits 😂
A build challenge for the bottom rated packs with build items would be so painful but fascinating. 😂
I wonder if For Rent will bump Del Sol Valley's world score, I think the world will be so much better to play in once apartments and townhomes are added to it. Looking forward to doing this all again next year! Fingers crossed we get more awesome stuff packs!
That's a really interesting point!
I love these, you edited this video nicely. Can't wait for the next year's votes
Cottage living remains SUPREME. It has errands, treats, 6 animals, good build buy, cas, the best world, agnes crumplebottom, better gardening system, fairs you can enter, cross stitching skill, new deaths and woohoo spots, animal gifts etc. there is no other sims 4 pack that can stand up to how much gameplay this pack has and i will forever stand by this until the make an actually better pack
To be fair they basically copied animal crossing but this pack made the sims a game with actual gameplay and a flexible storyline with the errands and not just fluff like some other packs
Why do people say the world is the best? I honestly don't get it; it seems so small to me.
@@pengwinsRus its small but are larger worlds really that better? Windenburg is one of my faves but kind of empty feeling a lot of the times and too many neighborhoods that you never end up going to. Henford has the errands that makes you go to other parts of the neighborhoods and feels more purposeful. Maybe its because i dont use the clubs in windenburg nor clubbing system but it just seems too expansive and empty at times. Henford has some collectables and the creature keeper and townie lore that goes along with the errand system. It just seems more cohesive
It's the reason I started play sims again
@@ayaninspire8142 same i was away at college with most of the sims 4 and stopped playing during this time but after playing with cottage living its my only motivation to use the sims now
The heels that came with Luxury Party Stuff are my favorite in game, and I do enjoy the dresses. Idk why they don't give us actual heels in CAS anymore.
Ikr? I got it for free with the Epic games deal and I find myself using the CAS all the time. The heals are really nice and I enjoy all the pretty sparkly dresses we got (even if the color choices and texture quality are kinda awful actually)
The sims team always seems to forget about shoes. Even some extra recolors of the base game shoes would be nice.
That said since thet gave us the ability to change the tone ans opacity of the make up I use the luxury party eye make-up quite a bit now.
@@undetestable1 I would kill for some Base Game swatch updates (especially for shoes), I'm in dire need of better browns and more neutrals.
We need more shoes in general.... If I remember there are literally only 3 pairs of shoes that are tagged as Streetwear fashion preference lol. The City Living heeled boots, the HSY sandals, and then the City Living sneakers.... And then masculine frames only get 2 because they don't get the heeled boots lol =\
Same. I got it free, but I really only use the CAS stuff.... I don't even know what came with the build/buy because I don't remember ever using it... Maybe it comes with like a beverage fountain I used 1 time.... I think I have used all the outfits at least once because of the fashion preferences that got assigned to them added some variety for my sims. Maybe there's a couple I haven't used. I know the one short dress I specifically used because I had a sim that liked blue and orange and one of it's swatches was blue and orange lol. I do tend to use the Masculine and feminine shoes from that pack quite a bit though. I personally think a lot of the dress shoes for masculine sims are weird looking but the Luxury Party shoes are really nice.
I really don't understand why Spa Day gets so much hate. I personally use it EVERY time I play, dropping by the spa is a great way to erase all the abuse I put my poor Sims through so I can start the next round of it! 😈 Also, having a yoga mat/meditation stool on your home lot is a HUGE boost to controlling your sims mood. Need to bust out a book? Do a yoga routine first and get 8 hours of inspiration! I know it's very focused in on it's theme but I think it's a great theme that can fit in to any sims life in 1 way or another.
I love spa day too. My sims meditate and do yoga everyday and the soaks etc. . . the saunas . . .what's not to like
The stats and graphs were so nicely done and easy to follow. Thanks for your work, James!
james, you're a cinematic mastermind! i think as a community, we should all take the time to appreciate the massive effort that went into making this video
yess 100%!! it was like a presentation more than a ranking video.
Awesome as always!!! EA should pay you for doing this research. I don't understand how Eco Livestyle and City Living are so low -- can't imagine playing without them - it's not just a one and done
I honestly did not enjoy Eco Lifestyle, it’s always so interesting to me that others love it so much. It’s one of the only packs I almost never touch in terms of gameplay, world, and cas
i felt the same! i genuinely can't play this game without eco lifestyle. buying wallpaper that lowers my bills? buying solar panels that lowers my bills? And mood buffs when a neighborhood is green. I need all of that. City living is the most op world to start a rags to riches in bc of the posters and cheap rent possibilities. I start most of my sims in that world.
I want eco but don’t have it yet. But I am always using city living. It’s such a different vibe from all the suburbia worlds and there are just sims I couldn’t see living anywhere else.
@@TheDawnofVanlife I currently don't like living in the city, although that might change with For Rent. But I love the rest of the gameplay enough and I enjoy coming out for the festivals and such, that I still really enjoy City Living.
I swear by Eco. I use the BB items in every build. Not just for the reduced bills, but I also quite how many of them look and they're so versatile. The fabrication and dumpster diving are also must haves. I recommend it whole-heartedly.
@@WelcomeApathySee I still see Tomerang as a different vibe from San Myshuno so it depends on the Sim, not me. I play family rotations and the Sims I have in San Myshuno I don't see moving to Tomerang. Those Sims are metropolitan city types. The new Tomerang exist on that border of not quite big city but not quite suburbia. It's a more homey family and community vibe than San Myshuno. San Myshuno is nightlife and BIG city. I try to house the folks in my rotation based on personalities and chart their children's life (and future places they move to) based in their personalities. San Myshuno and Tomerang are very different choices.
With the holiday worlds (minus Batuu, sorry), I wish they would get converted to "normal" worlds with rental lot types like we got in later packs/expansions. - I personally tend to forget they exsist which is a shame with Selvadorada especially.
Totally agree. I've once downloaded a mod that allowed you to live in them, but its very odd they didn't just allow you to live in them when they added the vacation lot type allowing for vacation places everywhere
I had a lot of fun doing the survey and it's so well done, it really helps you out deciding which pack to get on the next sale 😊Doing a category for which packs are the most buggy seems very fitting. Definitely we are gonna have fun with that one 😄
That's such a good idea
yeah, just a "game performance" rating would be really nice. Then you can separate out good gameplay ideas that are just too buggy from bad ideas that function well.
i know the refresh concept went away as soon as the first one was released, but i would love to see a Realm of Magic refresh, specifically to make it more cross-pack compatible. i feel like there is a lot of potential for spells related to concepts that came from other packs, such as using magic to manipulate the weather.
That grinds my gears the most. You go and refresh a pack not a lot of people care about and act surprised it didn't sell well? Meanwhile you leave your early stuff packs to rot with little content in them. At least computer players have mods...which I shouldn't be saying for any game.
I’m surprised Spa Day and Get Together were ranked as low as they were I love them both! Pretty much all my sims get into yoga and meditation and I like being a freelance massage therapist because I can take the table with me and pop it up anywhere. And Get Together is just an icon. I think it was my first expansion pack I ever bought
+100000, the ratings..I dont understand!!
I use spa day so often, it so much fun (especially with get together where you can make chillin girl club or make visiting spa, yoga/mediation skills as a good healthy sims lifestyle or for example make a girly spot in spa for before wedding party..) omg there are so many ideas and opportunities for this pack. The whole theme in spa day is so relaxing. Get Together is also so underrated. Really, these packs are replayable and varied more than cottage living in my opinion, you can make a lot of different lifes and stories with GT and SD
I was also super surprised at vintage glamour, I use the cas stuff in that pack sooo much.
Not so much for gameplay, but I use spa day stuff for every single build! Love the build/buy mode!
I can imagine why the Desert Luxe Kit hasn't changed in regard to how many people own it. That's often a problem with steep "early bird" types of deals -- when buyers know they missed a deal on something, they're dissuaded from buying it later at regular price because paying more feels bad. It's like reverse FOMO.
i missed out on the desert luxe sale and i definitely will not be buying it now. just waiting for them to make it free again honestly
Ahhh, I never even realized Desert Luxe was free at one point! I'll be honest, as someone who got into CC only recently, I always was using the Desert Luxe items in my build. I'd reach for that pack as often as Snowy Escape, Home Chef Hustle, and Dream Home Decorator build/buy, in terms of realistic colour ways/swatches.
The Desert Luxe sofa is hands-down my favourite Maxis furniture item for Sims 4, I was using it in every build, same with the curtain system. I also like beige, though- so do with that knowledge what you will lol
I'm really impressed by how professional this whole project is. Amazing job, James! We appreciate it a lot!
This is so helpful, James! As a very late player to the Sims 4 game (I was pulled from Sims 3 kicking and screaming), I didn't know what packs were good and was afraid to dive in and buy all the bad ones and run screaming. This is gold because it is real players, giving real feedback. Just splendid. Thank you to everyone who contributed to this to help the rest of us out! And poor Batuu is a little polarizing, to put it mildly! It is funny that I did buy Sims 4 Seasons before seeing this, because I loved Seasons in Sims 3 so much, I just had to get it. And I don't regret it at all!
I still think you should also pick what you enjoy despite what others opinions might be. I have found alot of stuff others like (like laundry) are stuff I think is a wasted pack idea while others think it's the bee's knees. With the sims whatever you enjoy is subjective and I think that's what makes the game more interesting.
Honestly the packs you need to know about are the buggy ones like my wedding stories and dine out. All the rest of them are very subjective. This is a good list somewhat in tune with community sentiment but if you loved university and wanted your sims to go to university and spent the time making sims for it or getting mods, it can easily be your best pack, even if it is not high on the list. I love get famous and there is a whole community that only play celebrity sims and yet that is really low. Really sims packs are much of a muchness and you should only use this as a guide and pick the ones you like the look of best!
If you’re new buy Seasons, cats and dogs if you miss animals, get together (better socialising between sims since it’s harder now without the open world) and additionally get to work mainly because of the retail option and selling stuff which is awesome. Werewolves and vampires is just a quick crash grab in my opinion and will NEVER surpass sims 3 supernatural plus real FAIRIES.
A category I would recommend is maybe having us vote on
“How likely are you to recommend this pack?” On a scale of 1-10. It would be pretty good at getting an overall scale of how liked a pack is cos I feel like dream home decorator would be nowhere near the top lol
6:42 Backyard Stuff is a must for the summer for me. There's not much to do in The Sims 4 in the summer. No set holidays. So I usually host parties for my kids and have their friends over for lemonade and sliding.
i was so shocked with how low get together was rated! it's really fun when you know how to play with it tbh. it's easily one of my favourite packs, defo in my top 3. it completely changed my gameplay with the club system. my sims actually have friends when i make a club and it's always really interesting to choose what traits and what you want your club to do. it's great for friend groups, or for things like a book club or a debate club, i use that a lot for university. (study clubs are really good for that too, i never use the university clubs, they are always broken for me lmao)
the cas is fun, the tudor style for building is amazing to play with and create, and i like how there is a modern vibe to it as well. it's fun to make an old-style home look new. and of course, those white plain GT columns are a must in every build, i love the closets and the games you can play. sure, i don't use the darts or the foosball table everytime, or even the dance floors, but when i do, it's so much fun.
the actual clubbing is really fun for me too, i love making families where the teens sneak out and dance with their friends, or a group of young adults who party all night. it's fun and different from the usual family gameplay, although i do like to make families live in that world, it's fun to make crazy rich europeans live in amazing tudor homes, or modern houses on the island. it's always funny to see the randomized townies go clubbing, like a sim's mother dancing with a grandma or seeing the occasional nancy landgraab and bella goth. the bluffs and the ancient ruins are really fun to play with, organizing and getting invited to the parties really fun with all of the lights and people there, it's one of the only times that a place in the sims is packed and the dj's are so cool. i wish a dj career came with it though, that's probably my only downside. and how the cafe's are really broken.
i love the world and the European style, it's so different to oasis springs and willow creek, and it's such a pretty world. i love the size and the different districts, like the older side of town, the private island, the countryside and the modern hang out spot. it gives my sims places to go, i don't usually build community lots so it's fun to have places to go. the townies are cool too, i love the behr sisters and the villarael's are so mysterious, sure the builds could be better for them, but it's old, it's expected to be a bit ugly. everyone has their own opinions, but to me it's a great pack and i wish it was higher rated lol. i couldn't play without it! :)
A "how buggy is it?" category will also need to be tied to a "when did you last play this content?" question, to be a useful statistic at all. Many people do not revisit content frequently - There's a lot of it! - and especially not the less popular content.
This question would also need a reminder to evaluate the content *without* mods - Especially Dine Out and MWS, as mods to change that gameplay are particularly prevalent. That could lead to a question of do people use mods to change gameplay from any pack though! Which would be an interesting statistic (and probably useful for console players to know before buying, since they're stuck with default functionality/bugs).
James over here doing free market research for the gurus and devs 😂
Its so crazy how everyones gameplay is different. A lot of the least voted packs like get to work and spa day and my wedding stories and not well liked coz i absolutely adore those packs!
FELT! I was just thinking how different people must play than me lol
I love Spa Day I use it allll the time! I was genuinely shocked at the survey results lol
So sad about Wedding Stories. It works very well for me, and i know it doesn't for most people, but it makes for so many memorable and emotional moments for my Sims. Wish they could fix it for everyone.
lol finally i found someone who also enjoys it 😂 it works fine for me, too, i never really understood the hate 😂😂
This had SUCH informative statistical data- it is just what I needed while looking through all of the packs and kits on sale right now! You totally sold me on Werewolves, too (mostly for the builds you did) but also because I had no idea it was a pack v pack scenario in the game play! I learned so much about the highlights of the different packs! I also just found your video regarding your JAMES code and I am so happy to use it when I pay for my well-informed purchases! Thanks James, and Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and Deligracy!
Tiny living was the first DLC I bought for my game, and it's really good. 3 different lots, useful furniture that is super cute, lot perks while you are in game and it's cheaper because it's a stuff pack!
And you can use it for any type of build, not just tiny homes! So good.
Tiny Living is ridiculously good
This is so interesting, thank you for doing this!
My random comments while watching:
- Outdoor retreat got significantly worse after seasons. The pack-specific plants should not be affected by the weather IMO.
- Strangerville is so underrated😅
- Now that we have rental lots everywhere I wish they would open up the holiday worlds to normal worlds
- I don't like occults, but had to get Werewolves for B&B! I remember being excited to not having to buy it and then I saw B&B and was like dammit, there goes my money😅
- I totally forgot there was gameplay in Dream Home Decorator🙈
- The Get to work detective career is also ruined after seasons, as your perp might nor have the clothes on that the APB says, if they are in their warm or cold weather outfits.
- Britechester is beautiful but there's way too little lots to make it a vibrant world.
- There's a few things I wish would be more replayable, eg. cleaning up the island in Sulani and cleaning up pollution in Eco Lifestyle.
- I wish cats, dogs and horses weren't part of the family because I always play in the same save and the 150 sims per save runs out very quickly when adding animals!
- Horse ranch was a surprise for me! I was not even going to get it at first, but it was so well-made! The horse aspect is actually the lamest part! I love the goat and sheep and especially build mode since it is super easy to make restricted builds with only Horse ranch and base game, which really shows how thought through B&B is!
- Growing together gameplay is great, but the world is such a let down😔 So much potential, but it's so empty. And it's hard to make builds that fit into the world because the buildings around each lot are so stylized.
- The Cottage living score really shows how well-rounded the pack is! Every aspect of it is thought through.
Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk😅
cottage living gets bonus points for bringing rabbits back, missing since sims 1!
Dine out needs a refresh soo bad! So many potential! Combining with the new Cook stuff
I just recently did play through the high school years stuff. Literally turned aging off trying to get aspirations. The one is completely broken. In my opinion you cant complete it cause most join social bunny before the last level of it. And it wont give you the 250 followers unless you are on that part when it ticks over the 250 mark.
The other thing is. Even though my sim was like best friends with every teen at school she was never invited out to a party. And thats something i was excited about.
I have a feeling that was a huge impact on how people are feeling about the game play
As someone who was there (playing the Sims) but not there there (in the Sims community) back in the day, the only reason I even bought Get to Work - other than there being not a lot of packs back then - was that I loved the alien gameplay and the ability to have male pregnancies before the big gender customization update. Granted, it wasn't true to life from the point aliens were mentioned, but it was a story I wanted to tell through my Sims.
I completely agree. Now that there are other occults aliens do feel lacking, but the ability to make a conspiracy theory loner living in a trailer in Oasis Springs and then have him abducted by aliens was more than half of the reason I got that pack. I don't think I have ever played as a doctor but by heck I've made some aliens
I was so pleased to see Tiny Living did so well! You rarely hear people talk about it, but the gameplay is so fun! And it’s such a great challenge for builders!
Something to note about City Living is there’s frequent graphical glitches and lag issues on lower end computers and laptops that have only gotten worse as time has gone on, which I feel like is what is impacting its score. Still love the pack, just wish it worked better (like many things in this game)
I loved the last video you did like this, and can't wait to see where all this year's packs rankings lie amongst the rest.
I'm hyped to see how For Rent does next year with these results.
I imagine it'll end up being a must-have staple pack - like how the City Living city/apartment life vibes are still quite popular, even though you can't actually customize the apartments in City Living.
new to the channel and am just finding out you did the werewolves builds. MAN that library is just stellar. my favorite build in the game tbh
Aw thank you!! I’m really proud of it! There’s a video of how I made it if you’re interested: th-cam.com/video/ig0BVCZwpN4/w-d-xo.htmlsi=iGYPMemxV44Q8nvG
It sounds crazy but I only started playing The Sims, particularly TS4, last year, so this type of video is very helpful for me. I'm also just a college student rn so I can't just splurge on every single TS4 pack right away, which makes this video essential aaaa Thank you for doing this again, Semaj!
I get so dad when Outdoor retreat doesnt get the love it deserves! It introduced vacation worlds! I used to spend weeks saving up to take my sims camping. It's definitely something I like because it reminds me of growing up, but damn Outdoor retreat, I can't live without it.
Its a bit odd for me because camping here only is allowed at specific campsites which are usually open fields so you can pitch your tent or caravan. And campsites also tend to have a proper shower and toilet block, a heated outdoor swimming pool, and generally they're close to the beach so you can go to the seaside as a short walk. So its a completely different style of camping in the game to what I grew up doing. Oh and for food you are allowed gas stove burners and you're usually close enough to a supermarket to pick up food to cook. We even had a cool thing to put on the stove that you rested slices of bread on to toast it. We made full cooked breakfasts of bacon, eggs, sausages, baked beans, and pancakes (proper ones not those chunky McDonald's style pancakes). All on a two burner camping stove. So much fun!
it would be cool to rate gameplay by ages too, like rate toddler, teen, elder, etc. i feel like that’s something simmers are paying more attention to (& thus maybe the sims team will too in the upcoming year). for example, outfits being available for children & toddlers but not infants, or the overall lack of teen & elder specific activities. it’d be cool to see what everyone thinks & how it changes with each pack!
How would scoring work for that though? Like vampires doesn't really feature any kids or elders content so given I don't play with either of those life stages I'd score it a 10 for both because it doesn't contain stuff I have no interest in. I spend more time going around editing all the sims in the worlds so they can't get or get others pregnant simply because having to see pregnant sims wandering around grosses me out (I'm severely tocophobic). So just don't have any use for kids stuff. And I play with aging off so I can play a bit more at my own pace. So no need for more elder stuff than there already is.
These videos are honestly so helpful. None of the packs I've bought since the last one were in the bottom half of the votes, and no regrets! Bring on the next one! 🎉
I always find this so interesting, I think it shows that packs have gotten better since 2014/2015, there's a reason the older packs are lower in their categories. I feel bad for Get to Work though, that world rating really brought it down a lot.
I laughed when he described skiing and snowboarding. Of course, it's just going up and then coming down. But that's what it's like when you actually snowboard or ski. (I don't spend a lot of time doing it in the game, but I frequently take them on a "day trip" to go do the various things, very similar to how I do the same thing in real life.)
This video has become my Bible when making Sims purchases. I was able to figure out the order I wanted to buy them in after watching this, and I recommend it to people ALL THE TIME. I now own every Expansion, all but two game packs, and will be utilizing this again to priorities the kits I still need. Can't wait to vote on this at the end of the year now that I've played more!
I started to do the survey, then realized I couldn’t remember a lot of details about some of the older packs so I stopped. I didn’t want to unfairly give something a bad score if I didn’t really remember how it worked.
As someone who enjoys working with data, I really loved this video. Thank you for not only taking the time to create the survey but to collect the results and visualize that data in such a fun video!
Really enjoy the way you’ve edited this video! Appreciate the time and effort you put into this video!! Would love this every year 😇
Get to work will always be a favorite of mine, because we got Lady Bigwallet and her Bigwallet-Legacy because of it. ❤
I’d love a category for the NPCs/townies related to the pack next year! It doesn’t necessarily influence wanting to buy the pack for those who don’t already own them but simmers in general are known to have quite loud opinions on them.
I love how James mentions spa day would be good if it was a feature in get famous because that's basically what going to the spa was in the sims 1 equivelant Sims superstar
The spa stuff and the music totally carried Superstar. I remember being so utterly done with the gameplay.
@@slwrabbits I loved the gameplay once I figured out how it worked, there are workarounds around a lot of things (need to befriend normies? lock your superstar up in a hottub by blocking the way out and invite people into the hottub, that kind of stuff)
@@slwrabbits it does get boring if you do it too much though
@@birdblackbird4766 omg I remember the hot tub glitch!
@@slwrabbits honestly the hottub is such a useful tool!!! it raises so many things, whenever I want two sims married I use it because it's just THE way to get them comfortable, clean and social
I personally love Snowy Escape so much. Being Asian, I appreciate having elements I can relate to and I like that it's kinda open worldy, like you can hike and get moodlets. And it also has festivals like City Living. I like combining the build elements w Spa Day. I am giddy for the new pack and look forward to seeing more diverse worlds in the Sims4.
I love when you do things like this bc it shows how much you care and love the game/community. Such a legend! ❤
thank you so much!! with black friday and cyber monday coming up (happening now actly), many will be buying discounted packs (me included) and videos like these wld help us make much more informed & financial decisions!
Thank you James for your hard-work. You should totally keep doing the survey each year, it makes it more interesting to compare datas. Also, I have been hesitant about which kits to buy, so I am gonna use the kits rating to do some shopping 😊
BTW!!!!! None of you give the conservationist career enough love, because at the manager branch you get to place policies that have effect outside Sulani. Try it
As a German I love building with Get Together so much because I know these old buildings we call Fachwerkhaus better than American suburban homes that I've only seen in movies and tv shows. For me personally it was a must have to build something that feels like home to me.
The reason I rated Snowy Escape so low is because the Mountain Climbing has been bugged for me from the beginning. Never once was able to actually make the excursion to that summit work, which is such a shame.
Thanks for all your hard work on this. I had to suspend my membership, but you obviously worked very hard on this. You deserve credit. 😁❤ Oh, yes, I love the idea of you adding a"buggy" catagory!
Thanks so much for your support ❤️
I really enjoy these videos, and I think they must be so helpful for people new to the game which we probably have a lot of now because base game is now free.
I think journey to Batu would’ve worked better as a standalone game, more like the Sims 3 Medieval. I think it would’ve loaned itself much better to blending the worlds of Star Wars and the Sims together.
This is one of my favorite new traditions, watching your Sims survey every year. It got me to actually start playing the Sims last year! It helped me decide how I wanted to approach the gameplay AND i ended up bingeing a lot of your Let's Play Bigwallet series.
Always interesting to see the results of these, especially the way you compile the data. I do think Growing Together was rated too high, because if you remove the infant basegame update it feels like an incomplete pack. I think if they'd done more milestone/gameplay for the other child stages it might've felt more complete.
I think it's interesting that the worst rated kits were CAS kits and the higher rated kits were build mode
This might have something to do with the survey takers being James' viewers. Likely, like him, they play more build/gameplay-focused games than CAS-focused and consequently don't care as much about CAS specific kits.
I can never understand the blooming rooms hype. There are maybe 3 usable plants and the rest are so niche it’s impossible to use most of the time
Just used this data for a university essay 😭😭 - felt so weird referencing (Turner, 2023)!!! Thanks for the survey!
I'm one of the people who very highly rated the Batuu build & buy. It has the best stone floor textires in the game. The pendant lights are detailed and stunnig, There are highly detailed decorative cabinets. It has lots of stuff that's great for steampunk, industrial, and space builds. And in debug it's rediculously good, including the massive doorway, whole ships and robots, toy Ewoks, stone path/planter edging, and loads of other stuff. The quests are lame and broken, but the builder in me is in love.
I really enjoyed filling out the survey and the results were really fun to watch. The data was also super interesting, definitely happy to do it again next year
Wow Jungle adventure comes in 4th for game packs?! Above vampires and realm of magic? That’s wild
The editing and presentation of the ratings is top notch! I love how this is presented!
I had low low expectations of horse ranch, but it actually is really fun
I thought the horses looked cool and I know how much goes into animating them in general, but I didn't think I was going to love the pack as much as I have. Nectar making is one of my favorite things. The world is super enjoyable. The horses are fun. The BB is masterclass! While I was never as negative about the pack as I saw a lot of people being when it was announced, I was surprised by how much I love it.
I literally LOVE Spa Day and use it every single time I play 😭
I would be interested in knowing what packs people WOULD get if they weren't buggy/broken. Like how popular packs would be if they worked as advertised. For example; I would be 9/10 interested in buying Dine Out if it worked.
I love that you do this. I literally only own the base game and Get to Work. I haven’t played the Sims 4 because I got board of it and moved to other things. I want to play it, and honestly live vicariously through TH-cam, but I get so overwhelmed with all the stuff packs, game packs, and so on.
Lists like this help me focus on what I really want to play. Or at least add what I want to wishlists. 😊
pirate.
Something that I think gets slept on in City Living is the collection element to it. Especially trying different meals and through trying them learning the recipes and how to make them (there are like 27 recipes I think). I use it a lot, but maybe I’m weird.
Same! Also collecting snow globes and posters
@@rosariojailene those are great too!
Seriously, you will always be my favorite sims content creator. I mean look at this video, this is so much work and it's so well done! And you are not even being sponsored for that. You are great at what you do, James, please understand that!!!!
I would love to see a metric on players who *have* and *do not have* Custom Content. I wonder if there are correlations with how bugged playability is with that metric applied. Excellent video and I really looked forward to the results.
There are quite a few of us who have no custom content and still have very buggy gameplay. I actually went back to Sims 2 for a while because at least I knew what the bugs were and how I could get around them - there would not be new bugs every time I loaded the game. It took the kitchen vs. bathroom sink update to get back to playing Sims 4.
i really hope that they continue pack refreshes and if you had a category where we could vote for which one we wanted to be refreshed the most maybe it would help the sims team
Spa day being one of the lowest rated packs in its category does not bode well for refreshes I don't think
@@mel_abroad that’s a good point
Thank you so much for doing this again. The number of participants was pleasantly surprising and it gives me a good idea of what packs to put in my builds if I want them to be accessible for downloads from the gallery.
I think for the next survey James could add replayability in the game and expansion packs options, cause that its a important aspect to know before buying one of this packs
I love this! You have to do this every year 😇 Cottage living, growing together and horse ranch are my favourites! I wish dine out and dream home decoration would not be so buggy
I feel like packs are very inconsistent. If you get great gameplay, you may not get a world; if you get an amazing world, gameplay may be limited or buggy. I just wish packs had more consistency. And Kits suck so much. I can't believe so many people actually buy them. It's The Sims 3 Store all over again.
I never thought I cared about get to work but then my EA play membership ended and I lost it and I learned that every single build I had built had get to work in it... so yeah I guess I stan get to work too
I feel like the kits were rated so low because kits as a concept is still p*ssing people off but I genuinely think some of the ratings (e.g. country kitchen, throwback kit etc) don't make any sense, those kits are sooo good. Also justice for menswear because while there are a few pieces in it that are more let's say... fashion forward, many of the pieces like the skirt and sweaters are so freaking versatile, I'm using them on both masc and fem frames. Overall, I'm pretty sure the kits didn't get much love simply because they're kinda controversial. Except bust the dust, that one eats a** 😂
I think you're right about that, but there's also the fact some kits are just very niche and were designed to be so. I never touch Modern Menswear, but I swear by the Carnaval kit and will defend it forever bc I always felt like we were in desperate need of good hot weather CAS and the Carnaval kit works really well for this.
But then I'm also a brazilian player, so maybe the kit's style just reflects my expectations of hot weather clothing better, in which case kudos to them for representing the culture right (high-key better than Jungle Adventure ever did)
@@dreamerbee I fully agree, I think it's kind of difficult to truthfully "rate" the kits simply because they cater to different play styles. The only rating one could really give is for the gameplay (if it's broken or not) but even then it's difficult because only a few of them have any gameplay at all. I like the streetwear kit too ☺
I think a "novelty" or "re-playability" rating would be good to add next year. As you were saying, some of the ratings on new packs are probably higher because of the fresh content, while there are a lot of packs where you play through a feature once and then move on. I would be curious to see how the community feels as well.