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I waited a long time to get the sims 3, we found it on sale, thought it'd be cool to give it a shot...however, i can't say how disappointed i am. I'm not going to say there aren't any good new features, but there are a seriously lack of important old features! Maybe i haven't played the game enough, but has anyone else found themselves switching back to the sims 2?

I don't know about you all, but here is why i'm going to continue playing the sims 2, the sims 3 has:

*awkward user interface (why are motives last and unchangable characteristics first?)
*annoying story mode
*strange "mood" feature to replace "wants" and memories
*can't edit the neighborhood (WTH???)
* sims have no interests to talk about
*no fit/fat scale to tell if your sim is losing weight, you just have to watch it or use the command box...
*town has building as objects, you can't stroll in and browse or explore
*default cell phone, this is unrealistic and annoying
*limited facial modification parameters (why do i have to download a hack to make my sims look different?)

There's more, but i'll stop complaining.
But what do you guys think? Am i being nit picky? I just can't understand why they'd take away key features from the system. We'll see what expansion packs hold for the future i suppose...

Well, Sims 3 is awkward, but with mods and custom content, it is improving. With the new Create a World tool, you can make neighborhoods. :D

I remember when the Sims 2 first came out and thinking it wasn't as good as I'd hoped. It's what it is now because of the EP's, as far as I'm concerned. I imagine they'll do the same thing (or similar) with 3.

I do hope so. And I must say that I'm seriously disappointed with a couple things regarding toddlers (which were my favorite life stage in TS2 because they were so cute). I'm especially disappointed with the fact that they're just not that cute anymore, and they really all look the same. I understand the infants all looking the same, that's no big deal, but the toddlers were so cute.... Makes me sad =(

And, a weird complaint, but the diapers and baby bottles just disappear and don't need to be cleaned up. Haha, something that just bothers me for some reason.

BUT! They had toilet paper in the base game. You have no idea how happy that made me 1laugh

I still love Sims 2, I will probably not pack this one away like I did with the Sims. BUT, after many hours of being confused as to why nothing is working (yea.... I neglected to correctly install downloads.. Yep.... ) I love the patterns, I can now edit anything I like, I no longer need extra downloads for a certain look, I can just use patterns which are smaller in size. I like the new system for wishes, now my sims don't go insane when their wants are not met. That got old and annoying quick. I don't like how its not as easy to switch house holds, I miss that a lot. The camera for me is awkward. But, I will give it time, it is growing on me. Just have to wait for more and more content to come out. 

I know expansion packs made things better for the sims 2, but the things i'm mentioning came with the base game, which is why i'm shocked they're not with the sims 3 base game. I want expansion packs because they add something totally different, not something that should be basic, especially with technology and programming where it is...

You can edit the town to some extent.  Not the block layout but you are able to bulldoze/create homes etc.  To do this click the '...' options thing in the bottom lefthand corner then go to 'Edit Town'.  From here you can edit houses, evict families, move in families etc.  To return to playing you click the button up the top in the middle in the Edit Town mode.  Something to keep in mind if you want to move your sims to a different house is that you can use the cellphone and click move. (Only recently got the sims 3 as well).
Sims will talk about some interests though it isn't quite as extensive i guess as in the sims 3... (eg they can enthuse about books).
From what I understand you can turn off story mode (I haven't however I don't get why almost everyone except the loners appear to have partners already when you ask them if their single...).
BUt yeah there are some things i find clunky/unintuitive as well... such I would prefer to be in edit town to start with rather than create sims mode...

Further reasons for me to be SIMS 3 all the way. I didn't even know of any EPs when sims2 came out; but after seeing how much better it really was than sims1 I wanted it BAD. lolz.  ;)

I myself am still playing TS2 and i dont pretend to buy TS2 for many reasons... The game itself is really "easier"(wheres confort????) than TS2 and i didnt got THAT psyched about the graphics of the game since it is a COMPUTER GAME RELEASED IN 2009. :-\

Okay could you restate that I'm sorry but I couldn't quite grasp that.... why would something made in 2009 be bad?

Assuming that you mean TS3 where the "*" are in the quote, I guess if one is looking for graphics advancements like a majority of other games made in 2009, then yeah, Sims 3 looks like it fell behind in that department.  Though it's not always the graphics that makes the game, it's more of a plus to make it more attractive to players.  If EA did attempt to go further with graphics to make Sims 3 pretty and shiny like all the other games made the same year, I'm sure they'd muck it up enough to burn a hole through those with older computers' video cards.  :D

Still playing Sims2 myself. I keep checking the custom creations on various sites, and for me personally they are still pig ugly. Unlike the transition from Sims to Sims2, there's very little there that appeals to me. Perhaps EA. will improve the characters one day so as to entice those that still haven't moved on.

Again Roerz and I see things the exact same way. Granted, I was one of the people here on Insim who was exponentially critical of TS3. (And by critical I mean I ripped it a new one every chance I got.) I mean the mods and CC being made for the game are nice and all, but the visual appeal of the game models still put me off something fierce. If pretty scenery and all that is enough to tide you over, more power to you. But last I checked the game was called THE SIM 3, not The SCENES 3. Even with the mods available, and yes...some of them such as the CAS body slider mods do actually impress me, and an EP now available, the game is just to empty for my tastes. I tried playing it at a friends house months ago, and tried getting into at again when I spent a couple days at that friends house over Xmas, and it just ain't cuttin' it for me. Like I said last year leading up to and after TS3's release, it's going to take YEARS for it to catch up to TS2, and seeing as TS2 is still being played, still being modded and people are still churning out ridiculous amounts of CC for TS2, you do the math how long it'll take for the "newer game" to catch it's predecessor. I'm not at all saying TS3 is a bad game. It does offer a few innovations. But it is in no way, shape or form superior to TS2, and won't be for a long, LOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG time.

I agree with Roerz and Kaoz. Granted, I have seen some very pretty pieces of TS3 CC, that for a minute or two, make me consider shelling out 35 dollars for the game. But then I remember the patches and the different file formats not working and how ugly the toddlers are and I get turned off again. I'm not a very technology-savvy person; I like how easy it is to install TS2 expansions, play it, and fix it when/if your downloads mess it up. TS3 seems very messy to me, so I will wait until all these patches and mods can do their jobs and CC creators can create more outstanding pieces. Until then, I'm sticking with TS2 :)

The game was written for direct x 9c I believe. We now have dx10 and soon dx11. I wonder if EA. are going to do catch up and write future EPs. for the newer formats? If they do then it would be interesting to see if the future EPs. affect the original base game written prior to the latest direct x releases. Food for thought there.
Back to the original discussion, the male sims look good, but the females, oh dear.

I remember when TS2 came out, and honestly it was not until OFB was released that it really started to fly.  That is when mods galore started coming, many if not all the bugs were fixed and modders had a solid grasp on what they were dealing with. 

I would expect it will be the same for TS3, its going to take at least another year before we really start to see the game get good.  I like TS3 but as it stands it is just lacking in so many areas.  It need to build upon all the strengths of TS2 and then it will be awesome.  Imagine going back to the original sims right now.. you would look at it and be like "ewww.. horrid" when compared to TS2 currently.  In a couple years people will have that same feeling about TS3 vs TS2 is my guess.   But as it stands "for now" TS2 is the better game.

Um, yeah. For Sims 3 there is already one expansion pack out and a stuff pack, right? It's had mods galore since it hit due to people like Pescado, Delphy and many, many others trying to improve the overall barf making appearance of the pudding heads. Sometimes, it works. Other times, not so well. You takes the downloads and you takes yer chances, I guess.

I enjoy playing Sims 3, maybe you're just not on the right sites while looking for Mods.

I still cannot get over the fact that they built a neighborhood that is not accessible. Your sims go in places but you do not get to see them in those places. Who came up with that? Or was that just an exchange for an open neighborhood?  Even still, I can visit every single one of my neighbors.  :confused:

The thing was developed to be installable on very old low end computers. Not necessarily playable or enjoyable. It was all about the sales figures and Humbles ego,hence the millions spent advertising the tripe.
The popularity of the sims ensures that the thing sell itself and doesn't require a massive advertising campaign, but there was something on the nose with this one, far to many negative rumors, securom,the new EULA, the store, TSR. collusion, permanent Internet connection just to list a few.
The seamless neighbourhoods ensured that buildings couldn't be accessed as in previous versions of the game, otherwise the minimum system requirements would be on par with something like Farcry. Hardly something that was going to sell a questionable game.
Rest assured all the eye candy etc. will come in due time. Then it'll be time to replace those old Pentiums for those that can afford it.