Hmm I tried playing public servers once or twice, but it wasn't for me. There were just many big, ugly buildings which were hard to get around. I love the surrounding in Ark, so these big, ugly walls everywhere kind of ruined the experience for me. I'm much happier in my own, private game which I host so my boyfriend can join :-)
Oh bah, even with a sale for the Sims, I still wouldn't go for it. Not unless it's all expansions. I just know I wouldn't want to play the game without them. Oh well, maybe in a few years ;-)
Fable definitely seemed like a fun game to play. It was just bad timing for me I guess. It's still on my todo list to revisit it some day. It's just that I keep switching between other games. Guild Wars 2 sometimes beckons me, Ark often pulls me back in, HoMM4 is looking at me from my desktop, begging me to play it again soon... and now Skyrim!
Ugh, so many games!