I’m interested to know if there are any rules or rituals that the Sims 2 community follow whenever they play or build.

For example, I absolutely refuse to rotate lots. I want the lighting to be consistent throughout the entire neighbourhood - so I’m constrained to whatever direction the lot is already in.

Every single party in my neighbourhood I always teleport a specific Sim in, regardless of whether he knows anyone or not. I love a good party-crasher.

If my Sim is in the front yard getting the newspaper or the mail or something, and someone walks by, they have to greet them. It just seems rude otherwise.

Every stray cat gets adopted.

Unless the sim is mean or shy!

No crossword is ever left wanting and alone. They are all completed.

(In)famously I always claim that there are no rules in my game, as my Sims are free spirits who don't want to be constrained by rules. There are however laws which even I have to obey. Most importantly my Sims have a Constitutional Law which unconditionally guarantees their inalienable rights to Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. The biggest constraint on my Sims is that they may not do anything that would infringe another Sim's constitutional rights.

In addition there are conventions. Not binding on anybody, but simply the way that I do things. My Sims too tend to greet passers by, especially if they are out in the street anyway. We believe it helps to build a real community spirit. Only once in my entire game has a Sim asked another Sim to leave. That seems so rude to me. Instead, at least one household member will try to build a positive relationship with the visitor, often just by telling them a joke. They will then be able to say "Goodbye" to the visitor -- much nicer!

Newly arrived CAS Sims will invariably sit down with a book to study cooking. By the time the Welcome Wagon visitors arrive at least one household member should have at least one cooking point. Similarly I always place a fire alarm above every cooking stove and fireplace. Even though I've had Squinge's "No more Fires" for over ten years now. I never turn Sims' Free Will off, even for photographs. I did it once and I felt they just looked wooden, so I repented of my folly and turned it back on again. I suppose it was an infringement of their right to liberty anyway. My Sims hardly ever order food over the 'phone or online. Shopping for food in person is an opportunity to meet other Sims, and maybe make new friends.

May I relate in some detail the story of one Sim greeting another one who was passing, and what it led to? . . . Carla Cameron was originally created as a CAS townie with a gay teenage so called Dean Cameron. Dean became playable when his boyfriend Harry Hastie invited him to move in and share his downtown house in Custer Boulevard near the bridge over the creek. Dean then invited his mum to move in with them. Carla, a Fortune Sim, was a considerable financial help to the boys, but she had no love interest in her life. She went out with several men, but nothing came of any of them. Then her gay son said to her, "Mum, if you can't find a boy that you like, why don't you try and see if you can find a girl?" Seeing how happy Dean was in the gay teen community, she decided to give it a try, and started going to the Gaia gay nightclub near their home. Initially she found looking for a girlfriend almost as hard as looking for a boyfriend. . . . Meantime Bianca Monty was living alone in a similar but smaller house on the other side of downtown Veronaville. Like many other young women, Bianca felt that she had a good enough figure, that she didn't need to wear a bra. And so it came to pass that one day, when her kitchen waste-bin was full, she took the rubbish out to the dustbin in the front street, dressed only in her knickers. Now who should happen to be walking past in the front street but Carla Cameron? Carla looked lustfully at the topless Bianca Monty coming up the garden path towards her. Bianca, seeing that look, invited her in. It was quickly clear that Carla's long search for a girlfriend had come to a successful conclusion! And the result -- earlier this year, they married each other!