The children do get an in-between shade of the parents skintones if both of the parents have a skintone from the same color family.  So in my family where the father is dark brown and the mother a lighter brown, one of the two children is an in-between shade (the other is the same color as his father).  So in this case the genetics work just like they do in the Sims2 except with more variety with the in-between shades.  Where people are finding that they aren't getting the in-between shades is when each parent has a skin from a different color family.  Then the kids get one or the other.  And while I agree this is diappointing when one has parents of two normal skin colors, I can see why EA made it this way.  You would get some really muddled and yucky colors if say one parent was red and one was green...or one was brown and one was blue. 

The NPCs and townies in my game socialize with each other just fine.  In fact I often have to wait until my sim can socialize with a chosen target since the non-playable tends to be engaged with another sim.  I haven't messed around with any of the premades, nor do I have any mods.  I also have the freewill set on the highest level. 

After playing the game for a month, the only rabbt holes that I really want to open up are the restaurants and the spa (and maybe the theater).  I've actually come to like the grocery and bookstore rabbit holes.  They are very convient and if they opened up, you would only be performing the same action on an object inside.  The thing is though, these places (the spa, bistro and diner) are work places as well.  Which means if they did open up, there would have to be changes made to the way they are run.  I see this most likely happening in an OFB-like EP where rabbit holes such as restaurants are then owned by NPCs by default, but can be owned, operated and worked in by playable sims.  

I was able to install the patch with no problems.  I haven't had a chance to see if the SP toggle works, but the 3 speed is indeed faster than it was.  Still not quite as fast as the Sims2 3 speed, but it seemed pretty close. 

I find it interesting that so many people have mentioned that one can get any sim to fall in love with any other in the Sims3 and miss the chemistry system of the Sims2.  It was just as easy if not more so to make any sim fall in love with any other in the Sims2 even if they had bad chemistry.  Now it may have taken a little longer, but it was certainly easy.  Now with that said, I do miss the fact that in the Sims2, sims could scope the room and would make their preference known by swooning or retching over various other sims.  I really hope they bring back some sort of system where we can more easily tell whom our sims are attracted too.  At this point I am going by the wishes that pop up.  If a sim wants to kiss a certain sim for the first time (or have any romantic wishes related to a certain sim), then I take that as attraction.  

As for objects I personally miss and hope they bring into the Sims3 at some point...

Basketball nets.  These were something I wanted in the Sims2 for the longest time and we finally got them in the second to last EP.  At least we got some playground equipment this time around in the base game.  Parks are my favorite thing to build in the Sims and without basketball nets and playground equipment they always seem lacking to me.  

Vending machines.  Again something that goes so well in parks and playgrounds.  In fact vending machines go well in most any community lot.  I wanted these so bad for the Sims2 for so long and FINALLY got them in the last EP.  Then I used them like mad.  I hope I don't have to wait that long again.

Baby playthings.  These didn't even get put into any EPs at all, but the Store! And not until a few weeks before Sims3 came out.  Still it was enough time for me to love them and want them back.  Though I don't think we will be getting any baby swings in the Sims3 seeing as how their bottom halves don't move now.  Again something I had to wait forever for in the Sims2.  I would be happy with a bassinet or stroller instead though if it means we can use it to take babies and toddlers to the park and beach.

An interactive ocean and beach.  Again something I waited to be included in the Sims2 forever and was so happy when we finally got it.  Interactive beaches were one of the only things in BV that I really loved, but it made the whole EP worth it to me.  And now I miss them three times as much seeing as how there are a couple of beautiful beaches in the Sims3 just begging to be made usable since as they are there is nothing special to do at them except fish.  I mean why have a beach party when it is no different from a party at the park except for the location?

The massage table.  This I sadly have doubts of being included since sims can now get massages at the rabbit hole spa.  Which I don't like because I enjoy watching my sims get pampered.  If I am too busy and poor for massages in real life, then I want to live vicariously through my sims.

Which brings me too...non-rabbit hole community lots.  I don't know if this will ever be any different in any EP, but I really hope it is.  The reason I am not sure if some of these rabbit holes will open up is that most all of them are work places too.  The only way I can see it happening is if one of the EPs is something of an OFB remake except that maybe instead of just having sims run their own businesses it also makes it possible for sims to work at other sims' businesses and make these venues open to the public to enjoy at the same time.  I really don't know if this will happen though.

Last but not least, let me join with the many voices decrying the lack of shelves in the game.  This one is such a no brainer I really, REALLY don't understand how it was left out.  I'd love to do some more collecting in the game (I actually find it enjoyable and in character for some sims such as scientists), but the fact that there is no really good way to display an ample collection of anything in the game keeps me from it.  A room full of tables is the best option we have at this point and while it works it is hardly the way most real treasures and collections are displayed.  At least give us some glass to put over those gems to protect them!

Can we still drop custom paintings into a Paintings folder and have sims paint them at higher skill levels?

I actually agree with this.  What I was trying to say is that as more and more mods, CC, and EPs come out for the Sims3 more and more people will switch over to it (especially when a tool to make our own neighborhoods comes out).

I don't have the game yet and this is my question.

Is it the broken Story Progression that is the main cause of the Sims3 feeling like a game to beat instead of a toy to play? It seems to me that this may be the case.  Everything else seems akin to the Sims2 base game play with enhancements.  I mean what is there to do in the base Sims2 game? Build a house, get a job, socialize with other sims, have a family and skill, basically what you do in the Sims3 with collections added for those who like those.  After reading most of the comments in this section, I think that just fixing the SP (either with an EA patch or with an awesome fix) is the key, right? Or am I missing something.  Also a lot of people seem to be forgetting or ignoring that a lot of the improvements to the Sims2 either came with third party modding or EPs.  

So even the sims in the household you are playing don't age? Gah...that does suck. 

So has anyone tried to disable story progression, aging, and set the free-will to low? I was under the impression if we did those things basically families would be like they were in the Sims2, except they they would go to work and you would see them around town... they wouldn't make any big decisions on their own. And as for the wishes resetting, if you played different houses in the Sims2 often when going back to the original household, wants and fears would be reset.  Is the wish resetting somehow more of a problem to players than Sims2 want resetting?

I love them all, but the greenhouse one is especially awesome.  It'd be perfect for a plantsim since they don't need much anyway. I often find that regular sized houses are too big for a single plantsim. 

These are all the male clothes and all the female child and teen clothes.  As for the adult female clothes, I got the first four...the Calla Lilly ones. 

http://www.mediafire.com/?nty4nx5dxdj

Also here is the male child hair:

http://www.mediafire.com/?jtztznmnnni

I checked out everything in Bodyshop and it all worked for me.

I just bought a bunch a clothes (all the clothes except for the adult female clothes of which I just bought the first four) and the missing child's hair.  I am going to upload them as soon as possible, but I wanted to give a heads up so no one else buys the same stuff. 

Dream

I think two of the female child's hair styles are still missing.  At least I don't have them yet and I believe I have downloaded everything on here so far...

Dashing Modern Bangs for Girls
Child's Stylish Modern Bob Hair

Thank you for fixing the Bamboo and re-uploading it.  It works great now.

Here are two teen female hairs...the Cute Anime Style hair and the Dashing Modern Bangs:

http://www.mediafire.com/?oyjzkoqruix

And with that all my points are gone.  I'm sorry I couldn't do more.  I would have liked to get another whole set of hair instead of just part of it, but I don't have a lot of money and the stupid store makes you buy each hair age group separately.

I wasn't able to get either one to work.  Who knows though why these things work for some people and not others.  I have all the EPs and SPs...sometimes it can depend on what EPs a player has.  Thank you for putting it up again though. 

The Potted Bamboo of Glory doesn't work for me either. 

I have 200 sim points left...enough for two hairs or two outfits.  Would you like me to get the two female adult hairs that are empty packages in the earlier post, or should I see if that poster is able to fix those and get something else? 

Thank you, knightguy! I tried these in BodyShop and they all showed up and worked for me.  Hopefully they'll work for everyone else too.

Tough Modern Punk Hairstyle for Adult, Teen and Child:

http://www.mediafire.com/?qdjmtoic1o9

Ok, I went ahead and got the male hair...for adult, teen and child.  So don't waste your money on those.  Now I have to go figure out how to get them uploaded somewhere (I'm new to this...).

I think the objects don't look really Asian because the designs are supposed to be a mix of Eastern and Western influences.  The clothes give off that same vibe too. 

I'm going to be able to get a little bit of stuff tomorrow morning.  I will look then to see what still needs to be bought.

I love how the newspaper wasn't even removed half of the time.

Hey Jase! Long time, no see!

I finally downloaded everything and everything shows up for me except the pumpkin heads and mummy heads.  I don't have a SimsStore folder though...everything is just in my downloads, so that could be it. 

I noticed that my default pet eye replacements are no longer working.  Has this happened to anyone else?

Thank you for this.  I use Enayla's replacements for most all of my non-human creatures, but until now I couldn't find a genie replacement.  Now I just need to find a good default for Bigfoot and I'll be all set.

HeeHee! I think the pumpkin heads are horrible too, but they do kind of beg for a picture to be taken of a sim wearing one and playing peekaboo with a toddler (with the toddler being scared by an evil jack in the box put in place).