If I may give a little advice to those who are struggling with the new patch and is the following:
Why do you want to install the new patch?
If you're capable to answer this question other than saying: "Because it came out", then you're fine. If you don't know why, do not worry most people who install a patch don't know either. In fact, there's a false belief that every patch is good to install. That would be true if the update was aimed to fix some glitches in the game, added new features (One can always dream), assure a compatibility with a hardware component, etc. I tried in vain to find a report with the list of changes included in patch 1.6. I looked everywhere in SIMS 3 site... nada. I said to myself that I was certainly not going to update my game without knowing why.
So I didn't.
All I know is that the new patch won't change anything (useful) to the game unless I install the new EP.
Now, I do find insulting is the idea to release of a patch without the usual technical information that should come with it. Why not a simple warning message saying that the new patch will not change anything to your game unless you have the new expansion pack? Does anyone care at EA about us having fun playing our favorite game instead of troubleshooting?