Yea they are, aren't they?
I have been an avid Sims 2 player since the game was released in September 2004 and, while not having every one of them, I have many of them and do enjoy playing that game.
But I go through spells where I get "burned out" on it and need other types of games to play instead. I have played VV, VVII and VVIII and will buy and play VVIV also. I can think of things that I would change with VF, but actually enjoy the fact that it's not just another sims copycat. I was reading over some of the "suggestions" for a future VF game and laughed more than once because what many people ask for is already in the sims 2 games and I'm actually hoping they are not included in the VF games. I LIKE that they are different. I hope that LDW continues to make their own "special" kinds of games and never tries to just copy another game. I hope that LDW stays profitable for many, many more years so they can continue giving us these great games.