I haven't yet got the Sims 2 on PC.

I've got it on PS2 and I quite like it so I will buy it on PC.

However,

Is it worth getting it?

What are the Expansion packs like?

And, most importantly,

How do the Expansion Packs work???

I got The Sims 2 the day it came out.

First of all, let me tell you that The Sims 2 on the PC and The Sims 2 on the PS2 are two very different games... but in the end, The Sims 2 on the PC is an superior game in so many ways.

You would have to play it to understand. I still remember when I went from The Sims 1 on the GCN to The Sims 1 on the PC. Wow. What a huge improvement... and the difference between The Sims 2 on the consoles and The Sims 2 on the PC is even larger. On the PC the Sims look a lot better, there's more freedom and you don't control them first person like.

Yeah, you'd have to play it, because unfortunately I fail at explaining things well. XD

I would say it's worth getting, but you do have to realize it will be very different from the PS2 version.

As for the expansion packs, some of them are awesome and some of them are ok. I own all of them except for Bon Voyage and Apartment Life.

Out of the ones I have I would recommend Seasons and Night Life above all.

Expansion packs work very simply. You have The Sims 2 installed, and than you put the first (or only) disk from the expansion pack in, follow the simple instructions, and it will pretty much install them for you.

Also, you will have to use the most recent expansion pack (that you've installed)'s disc to run the game.

I hope that helped...

The use of a PC does allow use of cheat codes. There are two different kinds of "expansion" packs that EA has put out for Sims 2: "stuff packs" and "expansions." Both of these technically "expand" the game by adding something that wasn't there without it. For example, there is a Teen Stuff pack which adds items for teen sims. These sort of expansions can add some to the playing experience. By comparison, the full expansions can open new venues to play with the Sims. For example, Sims 2: University adds another age bracket (young adult) and allows sims to go to university. They can be enrolled in specific majors to aid their careers later on when they become adults. This expansion also added new career tracks that are available only to sims who have graduated university. The career tracks added were: Natural Scientist, Show Business, Paranormal, and Artist. These career tracks have higher earning potential than the ones in the basic game (They also have higher skill/friends requirements.). These new careers have their own career reward items. For example, in the Paranormal line, the sim can get a "Resurrect-O-Nomitron" which allows you to call the Grim Reaper and bring back a dead sim, for a price of course.

The most recent expansion, Apartment Life, added new clothing items, new catalog buy items, new socials (new greetings for example), and magic among other things.

This has to be the game that has taken up more time than any other game in my life. I absolutely love it.

In Sims 2, it's more of a free based environment than on the console game. However, your sims have aspirations, which means things that they want to do then, or in their lifetime. The more of those you do, the happier your sim is. You also get rewards for completing them.

You can make all sorts of themes, build houses. A friend of mine had a "black widow" character who would get married, then kill her spouse over and over again.


Expansion packs:

University - Your teen sims can earn scholarships by keeping up their grades and building their skills. This pack comes with a secret society as well. Once you befriend 3 people in the secret society, your sim will be abducted and taken to a secret location. It also adds more careers, plus, if your sim has a diploma, they can start careers at their skill/friend level instead of always having to start at rock bottom.

Night Life - This is worth it just so you can have vehicles in the game. It adds cars, dating, and a downtown neighborhood.

Open for Business - You can own your own restaurant, have a salon, real estate office...you can pretty much have any type of store and sell objects that are in the buy catalog. You can have employees working for you. It's by far one of my favorites, but it's very difficult to play and I actually had to buy the guide for this one t understand it fully.

Pets - While it's fun to have a pet cat, dog, or other animal...this one I really do not recommend. Most of the animals need a lot of social attention, and if your sim has other things to do, then it can get to the point where it's a huge pain. What I did not like in this one is that you cannot breed dogs to sell. You could in the Sims 1 Pets exp.

Seasons - Adds weather, and outdoor activities such as raking leaves, fishing, making snow angels, snow men, etc. You can earn a pretty good living as a fisherman too.

Bon Voyage - Adds vacation destinations. You have basically an Asian, Tropical, and Mountain type vacations.

Freetime - Added hobbies. You can rebuild cars, play soccer, stitch your own clothing, make pottery... However, this exp came with the most annoying feature of notifying you every time your sim gained interest in any little thing. Annoying when you're skill building.

Apartment Life - This one I haven't played much yet, due to the bugs. I'm waiting on a patch to come out for it...but it's still a lot of fun. In this one you can live in an apt. building and actually go and knock on your neighbor's door to hang out with them (previously could not before). Also adds magic, which I really haven't found to be all that useful in the game.
Oh, and one of the best things is that it adds a helicopter. You can fly that around instead of driving now.

There are also a ton of stuff packs that really aren't worth it, but since I'm a Sim freak, I own every one of them.

One of those expansions had a massage table in it. Is that item available for the sims home? And do they have to hire an npc to give them a massage or can the player select a playable sim to massage another playable sim?

With regards to magic in Sims 2 Apartment Life: There is a spell which allows the sim to summon another sim. It doesn't matter the time of day or if they are at work, they will appear when summoned. This can be useful in helping to maintain friendships when schedules are at odds. Another spell allows one to cure a sim of sickness. As you are probably aware, with the exception of food poisoning and morning sickness (pregnant sims), all other sickness in the game is contagious. Colds can turn into flus which can actually kill a sim. The spell to cure a sim can be used to stop a potential sim-epidemic.

The massage table came with Bon Voyage. It is available for your home...however, you have to visit the 3 different vacation destinations, go to the spa in each place, and learn the massage from there. I think the Tropical vacation you learn swedish massage, Asian vaca it's acupuncture...I think the mountain is deep tissue. You know what, come to think of it, I think there is a basic massage that you can do with the table without knowing the specialty ones.

Oh wow, that is cool about the Apt life. After I spring clean I'm planning on messing with the apt life some more.