Is The Sims 3 more fun/interesting with expansion packs?

[Bluestar]

Even though I am addicted to this game, it's starting to feel a bit repetitive. And it's only the third day I've played. I have spent all my time playing it! At first it was overwhelming and it seemed like it was huge with so many things to do, but once I got that control over it and familiarity with how the game works it wasn't like that. The same things happen, the same dialogs.. Little by little it gets less fun. But still addicting. I think it's my sims lives that keep me interested, which would be a few households in paticular. But it doesn't have enough depth and meaning to me, it feels like something is missing. It feels limited I guess. And most of my sims have no personality or unique flair to their lives. Only a few of my sims have that. I don't really play my other sims. So, how can I make this more interesting? And how much improvement so expansion packs give? What I need is new stuff, everything is getting too predictable, the same dialogues over and over again .. At first they were so new , fun, and engaging! So will expansions help? If so, how much?

So, sorry for my long ranty paragraph, I guess, lol. But I rely need some advice on this game!

[Lisa46]

Well, I find that a couple of expansion packs - like Supernatural - add a whole new depth or the game and that helps. Beyond that I'd actually look into the forum dynasties, which are the only things taht keep me interested in long term games.

[Pam]

Welcome to our Forum, Bluestar.

There are still many things you can do with the base game before buying any expansions.  You can play all of the Lifetime Wishes, and even take a look at our challenge board for some fun Dynasty challenges.

As for Sims 4, we're going to have a thread dedicated to that discussion and everything needs to be in that one spot.  For now, I'm going to edit your post to remove the Sims 4 part and you can discuss things relating to Sims 4 once the thread is up.

[Dellena]

Expansions can be good for expanding the elements of the game that you enjoy most.  For instance, if you really like raising families, etc. then you might enjoy Generations and University for a fuller experience.

If you're an animal lover in real life, then you would likely enjoy Pets as I feel they did a pretty good job with the pet artificial intelligence.

If you're into the supernatural, then obviously Supernatural would be a good fit.

So it all depends on your preferences.

As for the base game, I'd recommend playing through each of the careers, at least, to get the most from the original content as well as working on skills.

[KhaineGB]

I think it does, but I'd try and explore most of the base game content first.

Personally I like Late Night (the celebrity stuff can be interesting), Generations, Supernatural, Pets and Ambitions (I love the professions where you actually have to control your sim at work!).

[Alakazaam]

I would say expansions and stuff packs make the game more fun for me. I like a larger variety of clothes and objects to put in my sims' house, and like the extra job opportunities I can get with other expansion packs. But after adding expansions, it might be harder to downgrade back to the base game if you have to, so do what you can now before it becomes almost impossible! 

[bubbles]

As Pam said, there is loads to do in the base game, but I think most expansion packs are worthy additions to the game. I would recommend adding expansions one by one and seeing where it takes you. I would start with Ambitions as there is a lot more to explore. I've had that expansion for two and a half years, I think, and I still have a bit to explore! The careers are a lot more interactive rather than just sending your sims into rabbit holes everyday. As Dellena said, Generations is good if you want to focus more on family life. It is quite fun to play with and adds lots for kids.

I would say to avoid World Adventures unless you really, really want to play with travel. To be honest, I probably use that expansion less that any of the others. I've only just got Showtime and so far, although entertaining, the careers are getting a bit repetitive.

It really is personal opinion, but I would definitely look in more depth at some expansion packs. Watch some lets plays on YouTube and see what you think. Also consider what is getting dull and what you really want to improve about your sim's lives.

[strongsoylatte]

I've only started playing the expansion packs this week. I've been playing the base game for over a month now and while I enjoyed it a lot, I found myself wishing it had this and that. The expansion packs addressed a lot of those like more careers, wishes, activities, actions, events, places, etc. So it does help in making it more exciting and less repetitive.

I got a bit overwhelmed though because I installed the expansions in one go so I made a test family first to try out the new things first before I restart my new household. I suggest you read up on what features the expansion packs have so you don't have to install/uninstall everything.