I have already responded to this thread earlier, but I had something to add now that I have been playing with this world for a few months. I don’t really get the hatred this pack has evoked. Even Iron Seagull (normally a big Sims 4 fan) was just saying today that the consensus among Simmers is that the pack is a disappointment. (I don’t know which simmers — other YouTubers?)
That feeling is the opposite of my experience with this pack: it remains my second favourite pack (after Seasons, which is still my favourite) and Sulani remains my favourite world. I love having sims live there and I think the ocean is really well done in terms of animations, interactions etc. In particular, I love seeing the fish, sea turtles etc. The other day my Conservationist Sim was diving and spotted jellyfish for the first time in my game. 1st person camera mode makes snorkeling feel very immersive.
Swimming and fishing have both really been greatly improved from the basegame, and are well utilized in this world. I even like the low key cultural events and the new kava party, which are fun new and easy ways to socialize. I also love taking my swims fishing all over the world using the island canoe.
The volcanic lot trait and the weather in the world adds a welcome randomness to the game (my sims have frequently lost patio furniture to the many lightning strikes of the Monsoon storms and I have witnessed no less than 2 NPCs die by lightning strike too). Best of all for me was the Off the Grid lot trait, which is perfectly
suited to Sulani. I have spent literally hours playing with this feature and it has truly expanded and altered my game play.
Do I wish there were a few more things in the pack, like a secret underwater lot or active lifeguarding? Sure but that is always true: I always want more interactions, recipes, features etc with every pack. I can see why people might resent not having something they particularly wanted in an island/ ocean pack, (like active scuba diving), I guess.
But I don’t understand the frequent complaint that there is no gameplay in Island Living or that it is entirely empty. I’ve been playing the Sims since the beginning and I still find the pack rich and fun after weeks of dedicated playing and building. I can even see places where it has improved on previous beach/ ocean packs. It seems to me like maybe the people complaining the most were already bored with the game or were not that big fans of it even before the pack came out. That’s fine, everyone has their own preferences, but it makes some of the criticism seem hyperbolic to me as a bona fide fan of the pack, the game and the series.
@simfriend1968 the real issue here is this was marketed as an expansion pack. plus, you're reaching. nobody said it was completely empty, however, for a 40 dollar expansion pack, i do think it is. if this was simply made as a gamepack, then nobody had to criticize about the exclusivity of ocean swimming in sulani and extremely shallow gameplay. this pack sure does looks beautiful but the gameplay is mad ugly as sin.
to sum up your whole post, you've been continuously playing this pack for months already, but for me, i've stopped playing it after a week of repetitive and shallow gameplay and went back to san myshuno so that explains the subjectivity.
@simfriend1968 the real issue here is this was marketed as an expansion pack. plus, you're reaching. nobody said it was completely empty, however, for a 40 dollar expansion pack, i do think it is. if this was simply made as a gamepack, then nobody had to criticize about the exclusivity of ocean swimming in sulani and extremely shallow gameplay. this pack sure does looks beautiful but the gameplay is mad ugly as sin.
No, I have seen lots of people say the pack had no gameplay or was empty including Carl at Sims 4 guides and just today Iron Seagull, as well as dozens of posters in this thread and all over the forums. And I don’t see how I am reaching when you basically made my point by calling the gameplay “ugly as sin” (which to my ears sounds a little hyperbolic). I love the pack and play with it a lot; I have no regrets about buying it at full price on the first day. Those who were sceptical or dubious had the option of watching reputable reviewers like LGR for their opinions, not buying it, or waiting for a sale, and that applies to Realm of Magic too, if someone has felt burned by this pack.
I have a big issue with it to be honest. im real happy about the envorment and just overall castaway feeling but it just feel lack. No learning catagory about mermaid or overall anything even its complete useless but somtimes I been on a page were I need help and first thing I go is the ''class'' in EA before google. Somtimes they are fun to even read. Then I got I issue with the shells.. They spawn exat same place and you can stand there and pick them up in forever. Is equal annoying as the NPC in City Living who left their d*mn coffe cups and cup cake on the ground when they disappere. If you got season expect some lightning burn mark under the water that you cannot click away either you in first person mode or normal mode.. real annoying and they dont dissappere. I tweet about this to Gurus but no answear ofc I know they are busy but im the only one who suffer with this?
I have a big issue with it to be honest. im real happy about the envorment and just overall castaway feeling but it just feel lack. No learning catagory about mermaid or overall anything even its complete useless but somtimes I been on a page were I need help and first thing I go is the ''class'' in EA before google. Somtimes they are fun to even read. Then I got I issue with the shells.. They spawn exat same place and you can stand there and pick them up in forever. Is equal annoying as the NPC in City Living who left their d*mn coffe cups and cup cake on the ground when they disappere. If you got season expect some lightning burn mark under the water that you cannot click away either you in first person mode or normal mode.. real annoying and they dont dissappere. I tweet about this to Gurus but no answear ofc I know they are busy but im the only one who suffer with this?
From what I've seen, considering I haven't bought the pack yet, they did a solid work. It looks good, the ideas are creative, it's a good approach to take on a pack like this. The problem is what they didn't do, I feel too many corners have been cut, they could've done much better, but it seems expansions budgets are waaay too small, you can tell. It is possible to deliver a flashed out expansion on a realistic budget, but why bother if it sells the same I guess.
I've been reading the posts here and I agree - it feels far more like a GP than an EP.
My sims don't live there, but that's mainly because I like sims to live in worlds cold enough to get snow in winter (but it's also due to the IL bugs making it impossible to live there).
I bought it on release day and I wish I'd waited until it had gone on sale. Thanks to a mod I've turned it into a destination world where sims will probably go for 2-3 days, as the world is beautiful, what there is to do there (which I agree is seriously lacking) is something I want my sims to experience and I want to know what the 'monsoon' is like (I still think they should have called it a tropical storm instead).
Only issue with that is, as I mentioned in another thread, Sulani is unique to the sims as it gives me headaches. I payed full price for a pack containing a world that gives me headaches and b/b content I don't use.
The only way it's really added ANYTHING to my game is that 1 sim is a conservationist. That's it.
There are a few packs I regret buying and this is one of them, hence why I'm not buying the new GP; if it looked awesome (which to me it doesn't) I'd consider it, but now I'm too jaded to make a gamble purchase.
> @Raevyn said: > (Quote) > > > When I read the part about their budget for the game and them having a heap of money, all I could think is "the Sims 4 is EA's cash cow to fund other games". >
Which is so funny to me because if you need help, you're s.o.l with EA. ESPECIALLY if you have a Mac. EA acts like the Sims is the least popular of their games.
reading all the comments here i think waiting for a 50 percent off sale seems worth it.
For me that is the answer wait for an 50% sale, yes it has some gameplay but enough of gameplay and some of the features are meant to save EA/Maxis money and sell it at an premium price. Then there is the knowledge that this EP was once in the form of of an GP in the earlier stages of planning and that itself does ot look good. Some people talk about budget that they have and it is pure speculation as who in this forum looks at their Excel Spread sheets to know what is allocated, nobody. I look at it as charging the customer an premium price for the littlest amount of work and mine is also speculation but IL is what it is for me and not worth the asking price.
Post edited by Goldmoldar on
Omen by HP Intel®️ Core™️ i9- 12900K W/ RGB Liquid Cooler 32GB Nvidia RTX 3080 10Gb ASUS Ultra-Wide 34" Curved Monitor. Omen By HP Intel® Core™ i7-12800HX 32 GB Nvidia 3070 Ti 8 GB 17.3 Screen
> @Raevyn said:
> (Quote)
>
>
> When I read the part about their budget for the game and them having a heap of money, all I could think is "the Sims 4 is EA's cash cow to fund other games".
>
Which is so funny to me because if you need help, you're s.o.l with EA. ESPECIALLY if you have a Mac. EA acts like the Sims is the least popular of their games.
They also catered to the lowest denominators of computer owners which own low end systems being I ask myself where are the bells and whistles? they been silenced. Not that one should buy an $3000 just to play Sims 4 but if you did it may be an waste of money as it would play just as good on an $600 system and the only difference between the two would be graphics which should go hand in hand with gameplay. I wish Sims 4 could scale up or scale down to whatever feature is in the game and EA/Maxis properly tweak their games in an timely manner and than Sims 4 would get the proper review it deserves.
Omen by HP Intel®️ Core™️ i9- 12900K W/ RGB Liquid Cooler 32GB Nvidia RTX 3080 10Gb ASUS Ultra-Wide 34" Curved Monitor. Omen By HP Intel® Core™ i7-12800HX 32 GB Nvidia 3070 Ti 8 GB 17.3 Screen
I just really love the aesthetics of it... the environment, CAS, build mode items are really great... maybe other expansion packs have better gameplay, but Island living also has a couple of wins.
The expansion could have been so much better, like underwater neighbourhood along with the island, like you could get areas for divers to explore, actually swim with the dolphin, and have a bigger neighbourhood. I was so disappointed as I was looking forward to have mermaids, but now it was just a waste of money totally put me off the realm of magic. It just feels like we’re paying extra for all the different species of sims 3 supernatural. What’s next, halloween expansion with werewolves and fairies?
The expansion could have been so much better, like underwater neighbourhood along with the island, like you could get areas for divers to explore, actually swim with the dolphin, and have a bigger neighbourhood.
I was so disappointed as I was looking forward to have mermaids, but now it was just a waste of money totally put me off the realm of magic.
It just feels like we’re paying extra for all the different species of sims 3 supernatural. What’s next, halloween expansion with werewolves and fairies?
Island Living has been the biggest disappointment of TS4 for me. Honestly, something inside me regarding TS4 died shortly after reading more about the pack. Island Paradise was one of the most essential packs of TS3 for me, and I've been longing for the TS4 version of it since launch. I posted tonnes of passionate ideas for Island Living on the forum years ago, even tagging a guru or two. This pack contains next to nothing that I wanted, other than a few beach activities. The world itself is beautiful but not even close to what I wanted. And scuba diving? Don't even let me get started. The prospect of scuba diving in TS4 gave me starry eyes, bc the art style gave opportunity to push into fantasy-like dive spots. Instead, it's a rabbit hole.
I've been defending TS4 for all these years, talking about how much potential it has, but I see now that, while it would be possible to fix and elevate the game to what I envision, it won't come to that as long as people keep paying for the watered-down trash that EA feeds us. The devs are capable, but it simply isn't profitable for the company. So I am done with burning my money on this game. I'll pay for a pack if it is a Farming EP, a Pirate EP or something that fleshes out the sims themselves. If the base game is fixed, I'd be more willing to look at other options. Until then, I am deeply hurt and disappointed.
Island Living has been the biggest disappointment of TS4 for me. Honestly, something inside me regarding TS4 died shortly after reading more about the pack. Island Paradise was one of the most essential packs of TS3 for me, and I've been longing for the TS4 version of it since launch. I posted tonnes of passionate ideas for Island Living on the forum years ago, even tagging a guru or two. This pack contains next to nothing that I wanted, other than a few beach activities. The world itself is beautiful but not even close to what I wanted. And scuba diving? Don't even let me get started. The prospect of scuba diving in TS4 gave me starry eyes, bc the art style gave opportunity to push into fantasy-like dive spots. Instead, it's a rabbit hole.
I've been defending TS4 for all these years, talking about how much potential it has, but I see now that, while it would be possible to fix and elevate the game to what I envision, it won't come to that as long as people keep paying for the watered-down trash that EA feeds us. The devs are capable, but it simply isn't profitable for the company. So I am done with burning my money on this game. I'll pay for a pack if it is a Farming EP, a Pirate EP or something that fleshes out the sims themselves. If the base game is fixed, I'd be more willing to look at other options. Until then, I am deeply hurt and disappointed.
I feel your pain. The packs have been sorely lacking in quality and content for a long time now. I finally gave up on The Sims and haven't bought anything since Cats and Dogs. Sadly, I don't see anything changing as they continue to rush things out the door to make a quick buck. As long as simmers keep buying the sub-standard packs they are selling, there is no reason for them to improve the quality and content of what they are selling.
For my part Island Living is one of my favorite packs, can’t imagine going without it now. I have little use of Get Famous but I love Island Living to bits and pieces.
I love Granite Falls and Jungle Adventure so I guess that it is just my kind of pack.
This is the trap when it comes to TS4 and why this system works well for EA. When they make lackluster and disappointing content like Island Living, players complain about the lack of things to do because everything about Island Living, excluding the build/buy objects, are restricted to one world. A very pretty world at that, but only one world. Causing players to get the next pack in the hopes of it delivering what they want and often times failing to do just that causing players to moan and groan and hope the next pack will deliver once again. Even now, I'm sure quite a few of you expect Realm of Magic to be amazing (or hope as this entire game seems to be fueled by hope) simply because Vampires was a decent pack, even though that flow of logic doesn't make sense and it shows in Island Living with the Mermaids.
This is why I agree with the poster in the forum that called the Sims community spineless. Including the poster, who used to be a member of this forum until he stopped playing the game altogether, I've only seen a few members who claim to have not bought a new pack for a long time and that's it. That will do very little to change things at all because so many other players are caught in this trap.
The Gurus themselves don't help to change matters. For one, your posts in this forum are NOT being read by them. Every single rant, idea, or criticism is not being read by the Gurus in this forum at all or at least, not enough of them. The best way to contact them is by Twitter (which is evident by how they only post polls on Twitter) and even then, your message may not be seen because of the number of other players messaging them.
Unless people start doing something (which is very unlikely as this has been going on for years and packs are still selling a great deal), TS5 is very likely going to have the same thing happen to it. Which means we can't even look to that game as the escape from TS4 issues because those very issues are putting money in EA's pockets. With a team of developers that seem to do nearly everything wrong, with a community that gets caught in the trap of hoping more content that actually deepens the game and then complaining that they still haven't gotten it (not that I disagree with the complaints themselves), it's a situation that opposites the cheesy cliche in plots that having hope is a good thing. Honestly, until hope is completely removed from the equation, only then will we MIGHT start to see improvments in TS4 and not have TS5 suffer the same fate. Or even worse, have The Sims itself go the way of Sim City.
Graham and Ninja read these forums.
Graham 5 post this year does not give me much hope and Ninja only comes around just before a pack is released to hype it and get information out on that pack. Neither of these help with the issues in the game or take any of our input from the forums if you're not on Twitter or a Game Changer at this point you wont be heard and they really don't care.
Sims 4 went from "You Rule" to "One of the stories we want you to tell"
You've expressed yourself wonderfully, I agree with you. Many players (myself included) have been pointing these things out since Sims 4 launched. And I will say that I'm enjoying IL, but like everything that's come out for S4, it's very underwhelming. Especially when you are coming from playing the vacation packs from Sims, Sims 2, and Sims 3.
If Sims 4 was my first game in the Sims series, the whole thing would knock my socks off. It would be so awesome. But knowing what came before it. Playing what came before it. And seeing how great of and experience EA can give us with The Sims, Sims 4 has me feeling short changed.
But that's just me. I know other players who feel that Sims 4 is the best out of the series, and they are over the moon with everything.
yes i notice that. for me i have been complaining about how underwhelming the game feels since day 1. i do think the game is in the best shape its ever been but i mean that is not saying much. its improved but it feels like its a bit too little too late. and as a youtuber pointed out some packs feel like they have no reason to exist even though they could have impacted the game quite a bit.(for example the outdoor retreat game pack) does anyone actually go there i am seriously asking this because i personally see no reason to go other then just to go there and if you go once or twice i feel like the novelty of going there wears off fast. like what if your sims actually told you oh hey i want to go on vacation to grante falls and their needs would decay faster or something like that until they went. (yes i know i just 1)could get a mod for that or 2)request that as a mod if its not done yet but i should not have to rely on third party mods to get that kind of experence)
I have already responded to this thread earlier, but I had something to add now that I have been playing with this world for a few months. I don’t really get the hatred this pack has evoked. Even Iron Seagull (normally a big Sims 4 fan) was just saying today that the consensus among Simmers is that the pack is a disappointment. (I don’t know which simmers — other YouTubers?)
That feeling is the opposite of my experience with this pack: it remains my second favourite pack (after Seasons, which is still my favourite) and Sulani remains my favourite world. I love having sims live there and I think the ocean is really well done in terms of animations, interactions etc. In particular, I love seeing the fish, sea turtles etc. The other day my Conservationist Sim was diving and spotted jellyfish for the first time in my game. 1st person camera mode makes snorkeling feel very immersive.
Swimming and fishing have both really been greatly improved from the basegame, and are well utilized in this world. I even like the low key cultural events and the new kava party, which are fun new and easy ways to socialize. I also love taking my swims fishing all over the world using the island canoe.
The volcanic lot trait and the weather in the world adds a welcome randomness to the game (my sims have frequently lost patio furniture to the many lightning strikes of the Monsoon storms and I have witnessed no less than 2 NPCs die by lightning strike too). Best of all for me was the Off the Grid lot trait, which is perfectly
suited to Sulani. I have spent literally hours playing with this feature and it has truly expanded and altered my game play.
Do I wish there were a few more things in the pack, like a secret underwater lot or active lifeguarding? Sure but that is always true: I always want more interactions, recipes, features etc with every pack. I can see why people might resent not having something they particularly wanted in an island/ ocean pack, (like active scuba diving), I guess.
But I don’t understand the frequent complaint that there is no gameplay in Island Living or that it is entirely empty. I’ve been playing the Sims since the beginning and I still find the pack rich and fun after weeks of dedicated playing and building. I can even see places where it has improved on previous beach/ ocean packs. It seems to me like maybe the people complaining the most were already bored with the game or were not that big fans of it even before the pack came out. That’s fine, everyone has their own preferences, but it makes some of the criticism seem hyperbolic to me as a bona fide fan of the pack, the game and the series.
It feels like a game pack to me. And it's good for a gamepack. As an expansion pack? No. It doesn't expand the game -- everything it does is limited to one small world. I expect that from packs like Vampires and the new RoM. Also, it's very easy to compare it to the Sims 3 Isla Paradiso as well and be disappointed that it doesn't come anywhere near having the same gameplay elements (and yes, I know about the bugs -- I use a fixed world and love it and I blame Maxis for not fixing bugs that modders were able to).
All in all, if you love it, enjoy it. I enjoyed playing it, but there wasn't enough to it to keep me entertained. I was really looking forward to this pack, and it taught me that I should never, ever, ever buy a pack that's not on sale. There's just not enough to them anymore.
Comments
That feeling is the opposite of my experience with this pack: it remains my second favourite pack (after Seasons, which is still my favourite) and Sulani remains my favourite world. I love having sims live there and I think the ocean is really well done in terms of animations, interactions etc. In particular, I love seeing the fish, sea turtles etc. The other day my Conservationist Sim was diving and spotted jellyfish for the first time in my game. 1st person camera mode makes snorkeling feel very immersive.
Swimming and fishing have both really been greatly improved from the basegame, and are well utilized in this world. I even like the low key cultural events and the new kava party, which are fun new and easy ways to socialize. I also love taking my swims fishing all over the world using the island canoe.
The volcanic lot trait and the weather in the world adds a welcome randomness to the game (my sims have frequently lost patio furniture to the many lightning strikes of the Monsoon storms and I have witnessed no less than 2 NPCs die by lightning strike too). Best of all for me was the Off the Grid lot trait, which is perfectly
suited to Sulani. I have spent literally hours playing with this feature and it has truly expanded and altered my game play.
Do I wish there were a few more things in the pack, like a secret underwater lot or active lifeguarding? Sure but that is always true: I always want more interactions, recipes, features etc with every pack. I can see why people might resent not having something they particularly wanted in an island/ ocean pack, (like active scuba diving), I guess.
But I don’t understand the frequent complaint that there is no gameplay in Island Living or that it is entirely empty. I’ve been playing the Sims since the beginning and I still find the pack rich and fun after weeks of dedicated playing and building. I can even see places where it has improved on previous beach/ ocean packs. It seems to me like maybe the people complaining the most were already bored with the game or were not that big fans of it even before the pack came out. That’s fine, everyone has their own preferences, but it makes some of the criticism seem hyperbolic to me as a bona fide fan of the pack, the game and the series.
to sum up your whole post, you've been continuously playing this pack for months already, but for me, i've stopped playing it after a week of repetitive and shallow gameplay and went back to san myshuno so that explains the subjectivity.
No, I have seen lots of people say the pack had no gameplay or was empty including Carl at Sims 4 guides and just today Iron Seagull, as well as dozens of posters in this thread and all over the forums. And I don’t see how I am reaching when you basically made my point by calling the gameplay “ugly as sin” (which to my ears sounds a little hyperbolic). I love the pack and play with it a lot; I have no regrets about buying it at full price on the first day. Those who were sceptical or dubious had the option of watching reputable reviewers like LGR for their opinions, not buying it, or waiting for a sale, and that applies to Realm of Magic too, if someone has felt burned by this pack.
Not to me, not at all. We'll have to agree to differ.
you need to tweet SimGuruNick about it @millis2
My sims don't live there, but that's mainly because I like sims to live in worlds cold enough to get snow in winter (but it's also due to the IL bugs making it impossible to live there).
I bought it on release day and I wish I'd waited until it had gone on sale. Thanks to a mod I've turned it into a destination world where sims will probably go for 2-3 days, as the world is beautiful, what there is to do there (which I agree is seriously lacking) is something I want my sims to experience and I want to know what the 'monsoon' is like (I still think they should have called it a tropical storm instead).
Only issue with that is, as I mentioned in another thread, Sulani is unique to the sims as it gives me headaches. I payed full price for a pack containing a world that gives me headaches and b/b content I don't use.
The only way it's really added ANYTHING to my game is that 1 sim is a conservationist. That's it.
There are a few packs I regret buying and this is one of them, hence why I'm not buying the new GP; if it looked awesome (which to me it doesn't) I'd consider it, but now I'm too jaded to make a gamble purchase.
> (Quote)
>
>
> When I read the part about their budget for the game and them having a heap of money, all I could think is "the Sims 4 is EA's cash cow to fund other games".
>
Which is so funny to me because if you need help, you're s.o.l with EA. ESPECIALLY if you have a Mac. EA acts like the Sims is the least popular of their games.
For me that is the answer wait for an 50% sale, yes it has some gameplay but enough of gameplay and some of the features are meant to save EA/Maxis money and sell it at an premium price. Then there is the knowledge that this EP was once in the form of of an GP in the earlier stages of planning and that itself does ot look good. Some people talk about budget that they have and it is pure speculation as who in this forum looks at their Excel Spread sheets to know what is allocated, nobody. I look at it as charging the customer an premium price for the littlest amount of work and mine is also speculation but IL is what it is for me and not worth the asking price.
They also catered to the lowest denominators of computer owners which own low end systems being I ask myself where are the bells and whistles? they been silenced. Not that one should buy an $3000 just to play Sims 4 but if you did it may be an waste of money as it would play just as good on an $600 system and the only difference between the two would be graphics which should go hand in hand with gameplay. I wish Sims 4 could scale up or scale down to whatever feature is in the game and EA/Maxis properly tweak their games in an timely manner and than Sims 4 would get the proper review it deserves.
try making a bug report @millis2
I was so disappointed as I was looking forward to have mermaids, but now it was just a waste of money totally put me off the realm of magic.
It just feels like we’re paying extra for all the different species of sims 3 supernatural. What’s next, halloween expansion with werewolves and fairies?
You gotta have witches on Halloween.
I've been defending TS4 for all these years, talking about how much potential it has, but I see now that, while it would be possible to fix and elevate the game to what I envision, it won't come to that as long as people keep paying for the watered-down trash that EA feeds us. The devs are capable, but it simply isn't profitable for the company. So I am done with burning my money on this game. I'll pay for a pack if it is a Farming EP, a Pirate EP or something that fleshes out the sims themselves. If the base game is fixed, I'd be more willing to look at other options. Until then, I am deeply hurt and disappointed.
Pirates!! http://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/906481/pirate-gp-smuggling-dueling-live-on-ship-or-build-own-and-more#latest
I feel your pain. The packs have been sorely lacking in quality and content for a long time now. I finally gave up on The Sims and haven't bought anything since Cats and Dogs. Sadly, I don't see anything changing as they continue to rush things out the door to make a quick buck. As long as simmers keep buying the sub-standard packs they are selling, there is no reason for them to improve the quality and content of what they are selling.
For my part Island Living is one of my favorite packs, can’t imagine going without it now. I have little use of Get Famous but I love Island Living to bits and pieces.
I love Granite Falls and Jungle Adventure so I guess that it is just my kind of pack.
yes i notice that. for me i have been complaining about how underwhelming the game feels since day 1. i do think the game is in the best shape its ever been but i mean that is not saying much. its improved but it feels like its a bit too little too late. and as a youtuber pointed out some packs feel like they have no reason to exist even though they could have impacted the game quite a bit.(for example the outdoor retreat game pack) does anyone actually go there i am seriously asking this because i personally see no reason to go other then just to go there and if you go once or twice i feel like the novelty of going there wears off fast. like what if your sims actually told you oh hey i want to go on vacation to grante falls and their needs would decay faster or something like that until they went. (yes i know i just 1)could get a mod for that or 2)request that as a mod if its not done yet but i should not have to rely on third party mods to get that kind of experence)
It feels like a game pack to me. And it's good for a gamepack. As an expansion pack? No. It doesn't expand the game -- everything it does is limited to one small world. I expect that from packs like Vampires and the new RoM. Also, it's very easy to compare it to the Sims 3 Isla Paradiso as well and be disappointed that it doesn't come anywhere near having the same gameplay elements (and yes, I know about the bugs -- I use a fixed world and love it and I blame Maxis for not fixing bugs that modders were able to).
All in all, if you love it, enjoy it. I enjoyed playing it, but there wasn't enough to it to keep me entertained. I was really looking forward to this pack, and it taught me that I should never, ever, ever buy a pack that's not on sale. There's just not enough to them anymore.