I haven't read through this whole thread, but I just have to say that out of all of the expansions that EA could have done to follow up on the excellence of Pets... this is a little disappointing. I was hoping maybe a magic or seasons or even college one, but they really thought to do a social expansion? It seems like these new skills and careers should have been introduced in Late Night, too. While the social aspect will be awesome for this community--I'll admit, I'm a little excited about the possibility of playing with you all--I'm a little upset that EA is trying to steer sims in a more social direction. I'm guessing Sims Social was just a tester to gauge how this release would fare with the public. I just hope this doesn't lead to more social-based expansions or sequels. We may have the option to turn off the social feature now, and that's good because I feel it may take away from the game some, but I hope this isn't leading sims into a new direction forever.
Don't take my post to be EA bashing, though. I'm just disappointed. This sounds like an expansion that will be entertaining, but it seems like it will be social-based and not really game-enhancing based. Honestly, I'm not even sure if I'll purchase this expansion. And I have all things sims related. I guess it will really all depend on just how much is added social-wise.