User blog comment:LostInRiverview/The Sims Wiki Monthly Question - May 2014/@comment-1997588-20140507142315/@comment-6360432-20140531012309

This is what I like about TS3. The sandbox flexibility is still there, but there are plenty of goals and challenges to achieve when you want to do them, and even those are optional & flexible. TS3 has best of both worlds.