Personally i think you can compare expansion packs from the Sims 2 with the Sims 3 base game, simply because they were touting TS3 as better and more advanced than TS2. Some things i miss from TS2 are Servo, Electric Guitars, Pianos, rewards, the customability as far as mods and skins, Vampires, werewolves especially, i loved biting other sims and turning them. Even neighbors. I once had an entire neighborhood of lycanthropes and Vampires, it was great. University was great as well. Basically, i feel cheated in a lot of ways with TS3, although there are some good things as well, like being able to have some control of what they do at work, etc. Having said that, not being able to see them dine or actually working sucks.

They need to change that, but i have a feeling they won't. And with the buying EA custom content from the sims website, i have a feeling they are going to try to stifle user created content in the future, so they can make more money off of their content. I don't like the business model EA/Maxis have with TS3.

Yeah I completely agree!
It just sucks soooo much that they try to limit the custom content!!!!!
It was one of the main attractions of the game! Many people plays because of this! With custom content the possibilities of the game are endless...
In general I'm very much disappointed with Sims3
It is like they released a half ready game...
At this rate it would have been far better to release another expansion pack (or packs) for Sims2!

I miss the Karaoke machine. I don't know what EP that came with. I just miss the singing--especially Foo Nitz or whatever that song is called! LOL!

I really miss half-walls and cameras that don't make you quite as seasick as the S3 one does unmodded.

And I miss all the crazy things from Sims1 Superstar that never got brought over to Sims2 and aren't yet in Sims3. Stuck up celebrity townies--stalkers, that sort of thing.

The main features of the TS2 expansion packs (seasons, pets etc) are simply too much to ask for. We still got many small features that improve gameplay a lot - mobile phones, private cars, personal inventories etc.

http://sims.wikia.com/wiki/Comparis..._and_The_Sims_3

I miss memories. Their implementation in TS2 was far from perfect, but much better than having no permanent memories at all.

Yoga was also a favorite of mine.

I miss having them have hobbies,too.
And being able to tan on beach lots, or build sandcastles, and someone mean jump on it.
ESPECIALLY the changing weather.
Yes, that especially.

Mine too.

What I don't get is why they got rid of all those little gems when they could have simply left them in the Sims 3 base game. Did they really have to? Was it necessary to get rid of the feature to drink water from the tap, do yoga, bathe a toddler and have diving boards?

And I know that EA's this huge corporation that makes money by releasing these features in expansions but seriously...does it seem fair?

Expansion packs should add new features to this game, hence the name. Reusing old features (which should not have been taken away in the first place) does not an expansion pack make. Might as well call it a Nostalgia Pack. "Sims 3: Nightlife Redux" "Sims 3: Pets Again"

That said, I'm happy with the Sims 3 game as it is, just a tad bit disappointed that they took out some of the features from the Sims 2 that I liked so much.

I don't know, I disagree with the argument you 'must compare base game to base game' generally, except for extreme examples like Pets or things that are traditionally nightlife/dating related now (vampires). I could go into detail on this, but basically it's something you either believe or don't, so I'm unlikely to change any minds.

I uninstalled TS3 off my machines and I'm back to playing my TS2 hoods with intense relief that people are still doing TS2 content. There are so many things that I notice now when I'm playing that make me glad I stopped trying to find a way to enjoy TS3.

So, the stuff I miss in TS3:

--Memories
--Special event cutscenes (First Kiss etc)--these being gone, to me, really sums up the way this went from being a really charming franchise to being nothing but a cash-cow
--Non-larval babies
--Convincing genetics
--Convincing facial expressions, aesthetics, animations, interactions
--Convincing vehicles and vehicle usage
--Family meals happening without too much micromanagement
--Cuter toddlers and children (and I'm not even a kid person)
--Better UI

And paradoxically, even with load screens, my TS2 hoods feel way more organic and connected than my TS3 hoods did--what with the dynamically appearing and disappearing townies, service Sims, and even player-created families. TS3 felt like someone else's world I was just visiting.

(And while I don't think it's fair to hold the lack of CC against TS3 (yet), I'm currently having a blast with a medieval hood that is a mix of Discworld and Elizabethan-era characters, thanks to the amazing TS2 CC available.)

No one ever mentions this, but I immediately noticed there were no dreams in TS3. They just sleep, with none of those dream bubbles. Those helped my stories along many times in TS2!

I really miss the in-game photoalbum. When playing TS2 it was always fun to take pictures then look back and see how far your sim has progressed. Now, I can't see my pictures unless I exit the game and, if I want to add text, I have to make my own slideshow (I don't use the game launcher). I don't even bother taking pictures in TS3 anymore and the loss of the family album takes away that connection I used to have with my sims. Now, instead of the simulated families I had in TS2, it's like watching a bunch of seamonkies.

To be completely honest, I miss almost everything. I wish I knew where my TS2 discs are..

I don't miss things as much as I thought I would. But the wide range of careers and the fact that in Sims 2, you could actually make your own careers (given some instructions). In Sims 3, I have a hard time picturing that being an option...
The lighting was more logical in TS2.
The piano, I realize you can't carry a piano around, but even a portable synthesizer would've been something.

I downloaded a mod to make my sims do stuff automatically, and I actually found it working better than the autonomous Sims 3 actions. (Yes, I have now downloaded new mods for ts3, but without them, I would miss it terrible).

I miss memories. True, sometimes in ts2 the memories scrambled, and took up place. But still.

The lack of the curfew police. For some reason that part of awesomemod doesn't seem to work for me - other than that, the mod works perfectly. Blah, it's probably my computer being stupid as usual...

I miss the chemistry where you can tell who your sim is most attracted to.

I miss that too, but decided to let them off the hook for that as I assume they'll add that in a dating xpac.

If they don't they are completely NUTS. Especially since building up a romantic relationship in TS3 is so incredibly unsatisfying.

Oh don't worry, they'll add that date EP. It's the reason they took out the feature in the first place...

I miss the memories alot! They helped me look back at the big events in my sims lives before they went six-feet-under. I also miss the chemistry because it helped me make my sims marry people that they were least attracted to so i could start a scadal. But i do like the sims 3.....but i hope that Eaxis makes some pretty darn good Xpacs.....

UGH no kidding!! Thats the biggest thing I miss.

Oh the cutscenes.. I like them. Adding to the atmosphere! Not for every moment, but for first of each, just like in Sims 2.

I forgot about this. Yes, this really bothers me. Things are dull without the little videos!

I miss the aliens so much. I've made a few just for the heck of it, and they look better than the originals with the CAS Slider Hack. I also miss the humor.

I don't miss anything as I never uninstalled TS2. But I think gwynne's list is what I wanted to see in TS3 and didn't.

Yes! I wouldn't say better.

Honestly for me the main thing is having mountains of custom content and lots of empty lots to build on. Just as I have with both prior games I will grow tired of repetitive game play and will also grow tired of house building if making the same thing another color is my only option. I'm literally praying for a breakthrough in item creation because I can't afford EA's money pit...I mean online store.

As for items I echo Hot Tub and Piano and add Diving Board/Pool Slide. Given that there is a playground slide the last is especially stupid to me but come one, diving boards are a Sims standard! That should have been in the game for sure.

Beyond that the biggest thing is interactive community lots, specifically retail stores. I think EA was right to use rabbit holes for careers...its a brilliant solution actually. But using them for restaurants and grocery stores instead of giving us usable lots is a colossal blunder of epic proportions. I mean seriously...no clothes shopping? What moron thought THAT was a good idea? How hard would it have been to give us something like the produce bins and freezers from Sims 2 and just add the new grocery store action window to it? It boggles my mind and makes me believe the people in charge of Sims3 never really played the game themselves.

Yeah, I kinda miss watching my sims go shopping too. I don't mind them disappearing into a rabbit hole when at work/school but it'd be neat to see them getting their nails done at the spa or a makeover like in the Sims 2 Open For Business pack.

And where the heck is that hot tub? It's been there since the Sims 1. What, are they trying to make the Sims 3 less "sexy" to keep their Teen rating? Pfftt!

As VoiceIHear said, I also miss the piano.

Another thing I miss is the tub jacuzzi's, woohoo in it, and also woohoo in public areas, and the other sims reactions when someone was having "woohoo".


Edit: And miss memories too! I think memories are important.

My sims woo hoo'd then went right to sleep after that o.o so maybe that's a bug.


I miss hot tubs and it just...it seems like there's not as many items in general.

Yea, I miss dreams! Forgot about those! And the cut scenes...also woohoo is so awkward and dull in Sims 3. You have to mess around with them forever to get the option to woohoo and then they go off separately and stand by the bed, return to the front room, go back to the bed separately, and then finally do the deed, then back up on top of the covers. WTF???