I'm pretty mystified myself about the sucess of the game and its addon packs. I bought it the day it came out because it was hyped to sound like a true AI game where the characters actually learned and began to think for themselves. This I had to see! About 3 hours after I got it installed, the characters still weren't thinking for themselves, and all I was doing was micromanaging the idiots, telling them when to go to the bathroom so they wouldn't piss on the floor.
I think the trick is that somehow the Sims creators have managed to hide the fact that all this is is a video game version of playing dolls. If more people figured that out, I think the only people interested in it would be girls up to 10 years old
