Family Meal Fix: "Serve Meal" Should Wait for "Call to Meal"

I love having family meals and throwing dinner parties in the game, but there's a long-standing issue with the "Serve" interactions that consistently breaks the immersion and makes it difficult to have Sims eat together.

What area of gameplay is your feedback about?

• Family Gameplay
• Social Interactions (Specifically "Call to Meal")
• Objects/Activities (Cooking and Eating)

What works well right now?
The ability to cook group meals and the "Call to Meal" interaction are fantastic concepts. They are essential for creating those classic, wholesome family moments or hosting a successful party. When it works, seeing the whole household gather around the table to eat and chat is one of the most satisfying moments in the game.

What isn’t working or feels frustrating?
The entire system is undermined by the cook's immediate behavior. The moment a Sim finishes the "Serve Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner" action, they autonomously grab the first plate and start eating by themselves, often right in the kitchen. This happens before the player even has a chance to use the "Call to Meal" interaction on the serving platter. It makes the "Call to Meal" feature feel like an afterthought and completely ruins the planned moment of a family sitting down together. It's especially immersion-breaking during a dinner party when the host is supposed to be inviting guests to eat but is already halfway through their own meal.

What new ideas or improvements would you suggest?
The fix is simple and logical: Change the "Serve Meal" interaction so the cooking Sim does NOT automatically grab a plate for themselves.

The intended flow should be:

1. Sim cooks and uses "Serve Dinner." The platter of food appears.
2. The cooking Sim's action queue is now clear. They do not autonomously grab a plate.
3. The player can then click on the platter and use "Call to Meal," which will summon the entire household, including the cook, to get a plate and sit down together.
4. Alternatively, the player could direct the cook to "Grab a Plate" manually if they wish, but it should not be the default, automatic action.

This small change in the cook's post-serving behavior would make the "Call to Meal" system work as players intuitively expect it to.

Why would this improve your gameplay experience?
This change would have a profound impact on family and social gameplay.

• Restores Player Control: It gives the player back the agency to decide when and how the meal begins.
• Enhances Realism and Immersion: In a real family dinner or party, the cook doesn't typically start eating before everyone else is called. This change would make these scenes feel much more authentic.
• Makes "Call to Meal" Actually Useful: The interaction would become the primary, reliable way to start a group meal, rather than a feature that often fails because the cook is already eating.
• Improves Event Gameplay: It would make hosting dinner parties and holiday meals significantly less frustrating and more enjoyable, as the host would properly gather everyone before the meal starts.

This is a fix for a fundamental breakdown in the game's social mealtime logic and correcting it would make one of the most common and cherished activities in The Sims finally work as intended. 

Please upvote 👍 this post so we can get this feature in the game.