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!

All my sims compost. You never know when they might run into someone with a green thumb.

Every single one of the pixels in my game will have a phone.

It doesn't matter if it's in the modern time or medieval, it's a standard rule.

All of my rules are perfectly sensible and not weird at all.

I agree to that.

I only have 1 rule now and its not to save a sim from death.

only one: never bring back the dead.

I agree with the phone. Mine also all get a Monique's hacked computer as well as a SimBlender. These are non-negotiable essentials, whether medieval-fantasy or modern.
Otherwise my other rule is dead is dead. No one is meant to be brought back. Death is final, no matter how tragic.

Any townie npc neighbour who after being greeted walks straight into the house and onto the families computer without asking gets dropped into the fire pit.

Where is this fire pit? Asking for a friend. XD

I'm not sure I'd call them weird rules as much as my standard way of playing.
a) I have no interest in supernatural aspect and as such none exist, with the exception of those who pre-mades in Strangetown and the ancestors of the Caliente girls. All others are modded out.
b) No resurrection - mostly. If a sim dies and dependin on the circumstances I might have their loved one plead with Grim. If the loved one wins against Grim then they can be revived as I see this as more of like a CPR measure.
c) All residential lots must have at least 1 compost bin, even if they don't garden. If they're not a gardener they can "sell" the compost bin and make a bit of extra money, but then they need to buy a new one to replace the full one.
d) Residential lots do not get an alarm, unless they are robbed.
e) 90% of all Residential lots must have a driveway if not a garage.
f) All bedrooms have closets, can be the single or the double dependin on the size of the room.
g) I mostly play want based with many things made autonomous.
h) I play rotational with 10 day seasons - I'll play each household roughly 3 to 4 days before movin on to the next.
i) Not everyone goes to college as they must have money to afford it. If they don't go to college then most times they can't advance past level 6 or sometimes 7.
j) Teens can not get a job, have a 1st kiss, or date until they reach 10 days left to adult. For me this puts them at roughly 14 to 15.

That's all I can think of at the moment. :D

All rooms, including bathrooms, must have windows.

Even the basement? XD

Basements can have windows.

I have lots of rules, no idea if any of them are weird.

I guess not adding/removing the kitchen sink a lot comes with because of my wish to compost everything is about as weird as it gets.

With no sink the sims will throw away their plates and bowls. (I have a mod that prevents them using the bathroom basin.) I do a lot of produce growing and every plot must be fertilized with compost first.
Unless a sim is very low in environment interest and no other sim lives there that would complain about their terrible wasteful habits. Then I force myself to give them a sink or a dishwasher and let them burn leaf piles. I guess if they burn leaves and end up dying in a fire it's their own fault.

My sims have now asked me to explain to them what a basement is.

Having a compost bin for every house is weird?

Not really .. I think it really all depends on how things are done in the real world where you live. For me, it's the law that we recycle. We have a blue recycle trash bin to go along side the green yard waste bin and the dark/ near black colored general trash bin. At least for us we only have the 3 as we don't have to separate out cardboard, glass, metal, or such from each other .. it just all goes in the blue bin.

I get your point - but I was perhaps not too clearly talking about my sims hood, where everyone just get that recycle bin as soon as they move in.

.. I got it .. but that's just it .. for me that is normal .. when someone moves into a home they get the curbside recycle bin at the same time as they do their curbside trash one .. they've brought from the company that picks up the trash

Compost isn't recycling where I am. Recycling is plastics and bottles etc. Compost would be organic waste, but if you're putting it in the organic waste bin then you aren't using it as compost.

With sims, I have to admit that not having a sink in the kitchen seems weird. Throwing out your cups and plates after every meal seems horribly wasteful. XD Plus, there are plenty of other things to compost. Just get a few leaf dropping trees!

Agreed .. but in the sims they don't differentiate between the two ... all waste goes in the trash bin .. trash bin can then be put in compost bin .. so for me.. I don't see it as a compost bin as much as a recycle bin .. hence why I place one on all lots