@LuisLTPG Yes, I finally gave up on obsessing about my sims all sitting down together and eating/talking at the table at the same time, mainly in my large households. By the time everyone is seated someone is done and bopping off to somewhere else, etc., plus there is the 'where the prefer to sit' thing. I have found a few things in my game as tendencies to keep in mind:
- If there is more comfortable seating that is location-wise (regardless of walls) that has a higher comfort-level to the seat, bed, etc., or if the atmosphere is better (outside, more fun - like the tv and social combo in the living room, has a high environment level for content in the room, etc.), or if there is a sim they want to socialize with more, all all of these factors are sirens that call the sims to sit where you did not plan, and there is a certain chaos to how they will mix up and play out at any given time.
- You can send all sims to near the kitchen right before serving the meal then click 'call to meal' so all of them are arriving to the area near the same time and starting their meal around the same time.
Things you can try to increase the likelihood of them choosing to sit at the tale together, as much as possible:
- Add seating to the table that is high in comfort, have a roomy, pleasant dining area with a high 'environment' rating, well lit, etc.
- Make sure there is not seating that is more-squares-closer than the furthest seat at the table.
- Make sure any grill, outdoor seating, living room and other seating options are considerably further for them to trek (already stated, sorry for redundancy.)
- Click on one of the seats and tell them to sit. Sit them near a sim(s) they have a high relationship with and will want to chat with.
And bottom line, try to be flexible or they will drive you nuts with this issue for reasons listed above and more. I play large households and have finally gotten where, other than for holiday meals (which I find to be a pain in the butt and somewhat chaotic), I have 1-3 sims that regularly cook meals through out the day and I drag the meals into the fridge and the sims just grab leftovers throughout the day. Most of the time they choose to sit at the breakfast bar or table in the kitchen and oftentimes chat at the same time with one or two of the other household members there.
Keep in mind that there are positives to the sim preferring to sit at the tv to eat next to the other sim. You can change the channel to cooking or some other channel that will raise a desired skill, and all sims sitting there eating and watching it and chatting together will increase their hunger fulfillment plus social, fun, and cooking or whatever the channel's teaching/skill was directed to all at the same time, which can be very, very beneficial.
