Today EA released two things for the Sims 3: first of all there's a patch for The Sims 3 and World Adventures. The huge list of issues that are solved is in the patch notes. The patch itself can be downloaded through the Sims 3 launcher. Furthermore Sims 3 fans who are tired of Sunset Valley and Riverview now have the option to create their own brand new neighborhoods with the Create a World tool. The freebie is still in beta but it should allow you to get started at making a new town. The Create a World page has the download.

[Update 17 December] We've received information from EA that the new patch causes many problems, including the game not starting up anymore if the patch fails to install properly. If new information or a new patch appears to solve these issues, we'll let you know. Until then it may be better not to install the new patch.