I've never used Origin outside of Sims 3 so I may just be clueless, but I'm not sure what makes it a horrible service. The only thing I had to do with it was download Sims updates, and that's it. Granted, I'd prefer to NOT have to use it for updates, but I only ever saw it every few months.
Anyway, now that Sims 4 is out, Sims 3 expansions are gonna be dirt cheap. I'll finally get to have pets and seasons and other wonderful things.