Late reply but I already installed the
sims 1 &
sims 2 starter packs last year and have 4+ gb mods and CC on the sims 2 already.

I think these "starter packs" are the most normie friendly pirated version.
if EA had actually fixed the issues I might try a pirated version of ts2 legacy, but considering the reports, conflicting opinions, no IKEA or bodyshop on the legacy version I'm gonna be sticking with what I have.
Also putting the
graphics rules file from legacy to my UC version actually improved my gameplay for a bit. Less lag and over all smoother performance(?). Although the newest ts2 "avoid pink flashing and crashing" meta is to just to play it on Linux.