The awful bad manners of some sims send me flouncing off in a huff. The welcome wagon prepares you for it: as soon as they drop the host's hand, they plunge off towards the nearest source of pleasure - the music, the bar, the swimming pool. My sim stands gaping as they leap into his hot tub and woohoo, while he's still wondering what to say.

Today my romance sim Malcolm, who wants to get his woohoo score up from seven to ten, visited the sports ground and introduced himself to Trisha Traveller (one lightning bolt) and then to Sharla Ottomas (three lightning bolts). He promptly asked Sharla for a date, but his options were limited as they only had three acquaintance points; so he started a game of kicky bag. Usually this will raise the score rapidly, with one point for each kick; but Trisha muscled in on the game, and the rate of increase slowed to a trickle. Bored with this, Malcolm broke it off and tried to entertain Sharla with a joke. Sharla would not stop playing kicky bag with Trisha. The date was obviously at an end, so Malcolm headed for his car. The 'Go home' instruction was followed by 'Listen to a joke' from both Sharla and Trisha, but they were too late. I was offended, and so was Malcolm.

I suppose there is no way to stop a passer-by hijacking the game of kicky bag? Or any way to teach sims politeness? I may rain down burning sulphur.

What I do in those situations, where I wanted to do something with a townie and it's not cooperating, is to go home and use the phone to get them to become friends. Then I call them over to the home lot, where it's easier to control things.

Aside from modding out autonomous behaviors that are too strongly advertised, like the exercise equipment, I don't know of any way to control Sim behavior. Playing Sims supposedly trains them to make better decisions, but that kind of defeats the purpose of using townies

Hahahahahahahahahaha! I think it is very funny I remember, when I started playing Sims, my thoughts would be : "How obnoxious!" But we get used to Sims behaving like this, don't we? I think there are mods to sort some of these things out - but, to my mind, it will cut the drama. After all, it makes the game more interesting.

Don't forget the sims who get up from the table and then fart in the faces of those still eating.

Sadly there is no ettiquette tutor that can be called from the phone in Sims 2...

There are mods for some of this behavior, though!

I can live with most of the bad behavior, but not the trash-kicking one. (Well, I consider that rude behavior for what are often insignificant slights.) That sonofagun got modded.

Didn't Pescado or someone mod the welcome wagon visits? Well, there is a possibly-useful mod on Simbology. I haven't tried it, so I can't say for sure, but usually, Simbology mods are excellent:

http://www.simbology.com/smf/index.php?topic=15.0

@gazania Yes the "Welcome Wagon Hacks" from Simbology work great.

Sims just have different customs, that's all.

For welcome wagon visits, there's simple strategies for increasing face time. One, don't set everything at once. If your starter house has only the basics - bookcase, plumbing, kitchen and dining area, bedroom - there's nothing to attract sims into using items rather than interacting with the host. I like having a stereo on the lot, because people can start in getting their dance skill, but that's me. On the first day, have a lunch ready. Once the welcome wagon arrives, you can call them to the meal and most of them will sit down and eat with their host. If this is a new CAS sim household, this is a good time to set members' gender preferences and to start getting a line on the characters. Talk to each guest in turn. If this is an established household moved into new digs, use influence to foster interaction. Observe which guests are intereacting with each other, and how.

Because my basic playstyle is so integrated, I like having miscellaneous lots of visiting sims behaving randomly, establishing their friendships and enmities, and displaying their characters. Sims who feel awkward or shy often gravitate toward a pet or the kids. Musical sims entertain other guests by performing. Enemies get into the hot tub together and work out their differences. A two-timer who finds multiple lovers on the lot either decides to blow one up, or behaves with an ingenious level of discretion. Hilarity ensues.

Reserve the high-advertising items for community lots and don't put items you don't want guests to use in the front room. Yeah, some sims will seek out computers and TVs in the farthest reaches of the house, but most will remain in the living-kitchen-dining area. And in a new house, all you have to do to keep the welcome wagon from doing that is, to not set out the computers, TV, etc. till afterward.

One of the highest-advertised items, the dartboard, should be put outside. That way your visitors do not all crowd around it playing. But of course in my game, I have 'visitors can shower' and they use the bathroom real frequently-but it's better than them stinking and others making 'eww, he/she smells!".

The welcome wagon used to be an annoyance to me until I started using a few hacks to greet automatically. Then once they're on the lot, they don't stand around and clog up space.

PS-don't cook any food until they've all gone. Sims are such smoozes that any smell of food will automatically bring them out of the hills.

You were on a community lot, right? So why not just have the dating couple move to a different community lot? That doesn't require a relationship check, unlike 'back to my place'.

You could also try making friends before starting the date; it doesn't take that long. When looking to increase the headcount, it pays to look in your relationship panel, arrange acquaintances by lightning bolt, and make note of the highest relationship among them before calling for a date. Also, to have parties and outings regularly, to cultivate relationships with several people at once. Then you focus in on one.

Personally I think it's pretty dang rude to streamline or skip the courtship process. What is the dang hurry? If she wanted something quick and impersonal, she has hands.

In the "real" world it is hard to teach people how to be more "Polite" or to say yes I am wrong and sorry. The Sims is no different they have always been a piece of work when it comes to not being polite.
Those pixels was made to work the players last good nerves, the welcome wagon seem to think that just because they ring someone door bell to greet a new Sims,
that it give them the right to march straight into the Sims house and use any items they want.

If someone did that in real life they would get "Punch" dead in the face, or cuss out, The Sims do not know what politeness is it do not exist in their world.
Have you ever notice that even if they start a fight or argue by the expression on their faces they hate to say I'll sorry even when you direct them to do so.

I think it would have been pretty boring if the welcome wagon stood around, waiting to be invited to sit down And i am totally with Penny about the dating! The Sims are quite often the most amusing and charming during the courtship process Sims without attraction bolts can have dream dates too I know that for a fact because I like to choose their partners for them

I have some couples who had a negative chemistry at first (which improved to neutral with time) and actually make great couples after all. I consider chemistry more of a physical attraction (I know it takes into account other stuff too, but that's how I interpret it myself) and two people can be really good friends, which later grows into a great relationship, even with less physical attraction - I think many people in real life would rather date someone they got along amazingly with but who was a bit less physically attractive than a totally hot person with a really bad personality.

Back from a two week vacation in Turkey, I want to pitch in on the welcome wagon.
It depends on who shows up, but if they are all townies, I just let them stand there until they give up and leave.
That way they don't have a chance to march into the house and use what they want.
Although that isn't my reason to just ignore their arrival.
Usually, I don't have a purpose for townies in the beginning and therefore prefer to pretend they aren't there for something else than decoration.
Later, when a few of them somehow got connected with one of my sims it's fine with me that they show up and for example jump in the pool right after greeting.
I find that kind of behaviour funny, but I can understand if it irritates you, you want to express it.
That's what the forum is for also. Not only to share the fun or ask for help with something but also to blow off some steam when you feel like it.
Maybe it's a plan to 'fence in' certain stuff when the welcome wagon arrives? Then they can't use it and have to interact with your sims more.

@mirjampenning Welcome back! Hope you had an enjoyable vacation!

Sometimes I'll greet the welcome wagon and sometimes I won't...depends on what family I'm playing or what mood I'm in while I'm playing. It also depends on who's in the welcome wagon.
If there is only one of my made sims, then that'll be the only one I greet. If it's all townies, then I mostly just ignore them.

I also tend to have my house set up to where the only fun thing for my visitors to do is fish (all of my lands have some form of fishing hole on them). I mostly play farms so most of my poor farmers don't have a lot of the "fun" things.
My farm houses are set up to where the beds and (if I let them have any) computers are upstairs with a "locked to family only" door blocking the downstairs from getting to them.

So...yah, the visitors are relegated to sitting on the couch, at the dining table or fishing. lol

Why didn't you just slap Trisha? That'll teach her!

Playing in a Megahood, welcome wagon is always other playables because the game has so many to choose from - though I find some of them appear very often (Florence Delarosa, Ramirez couple, Carlos Contender...) I don't know why this is? In the past, my game usually pulled closest neighbors into the welcome wagon.

Anyway, I have a mod that asks me whether I want a welcome wagon, but usually I want it unless everyone is at work or they are really busy with something else. Or you know, I just can't be bothered. I find that even if Sims tend to use your objects when they arrive (especially the toilets ) they will usually be more than willing to drop it to interact with your Sim unless their needs are very low. Of course, if your Sims ignore them, they'll either use your stuff or interact with each other. Which is one thing that I love - welcome wagons give not only the resident Sims a chance to meet their neighbors and make some friends, but also for the different Sims in welcome wagon to interact with each other and build relationships. I love it when I load a household from a previous rotation and find that they have built relationships while I wasn't even actively doing it! Makes the game seem more realistic

Or sometimes they can break relationships. In a previous Megahood, Denise Jacquet and Carlos Contender were grouped together in a welcome wagon several times and every time they interacted, they hated each other more At some point it was so bad that they were getting into fights at their poor neighbors' houses

@shuttlegrannyjo, thanks for the welcome. It was quite a trip. Mostly in a good way.
First week was with my parents on such a roundtrip in a bus with 'your own' travel agent and 'your own bus chauffeur'.
With my 'poor' health that was quite tough to do but very much worth it. Starting in Istanbul and ending in Antalya.
There I met up with my husband and we had another week together in a whole different setting.
While my parents are more the type for luxerous hotels and beforehand arranged things, me and my husband are more the cheap hostel types and doing our own thing.
Not just to save money and that we can't afford more.
With the cheap hostel thing you set yourself up for things regular tourists like my parents would never experience. And in regular you experience more the way life there really is. Like for example that you only have hot water on certain hours of the day. Sometimes not even then if you have bad luck.

For some our kind of trips would sound 'horrible' because of these things we take for granted at home (24/7 hot water) or that we only arrange our place of sleep while we are already arrived at our destination. Which is quite easy, I experienced. And you would never find these cheapest places on-line. You only find these by walking in side streets of side streets.
Enfin, now I am back home again and on a sims 2 forum.

I think we have a similar kind of gameplay. What you wrote is almost exactly how I go about it.
If the welcome wagon contains 'my' playables, they will always be greeted and the townies get ignored.
But mood or what the beginning family is doing can play a part as well. Taking decisions on the spur of the moment is certainly not uncommon in my hood.

Also, I loved my farm family in my previous hood which had four siblings. They had parents but they disappeared, which made the oldest son responsible for his three younger brother and sisters. He had to go to school, take care of his siblings ánd keep the farm running to provide. Quite a task and he missed university because of it.
In my new hood I don't have a farm yet. I wasn't quite sure this time if I wanted to add the farm animals of rebecka. For the sole reason that once they're put in, they need to stay in that hood forever. Still haven't made a decision. I like your idea of mostly have farm families. Maybe because I grew up in a village where we'd have a farm right at the end of our street where I visited often. And at the other side meadows with sheep, owned by people living in a adjacent terraced (row) house.
And of course there were more farms in the neighborhood. I still have 'the dream later when I grow up' I want to live on a farm with animals etc.
Childhood sentiment, I guess and I love animals.

Because of a much lower amount of CC in comparison with my previous hood, my sims haven't many buying options for their starter homes. Usually they don't get further than the basics. Then visitors haven't much options to use their stuff as well. And since I just recently got Seasons I haven't had much chance to explore the fishing options yet. So, they don't even have that option.
Like in your houses, the visitors are stuck with no more than a couch and a tv or enjoying a free (burned) meal at the kitchen table, lol.

When I think about it, there are only very few things that irritate me in this game, which I already took care of by modding it out.