These are really great ideas! I'm going to incorporate some of them into my game. I do rotational play with a family that all live in the same neighborhood. I'm on the second generation and while I've done a lot with their stories (divorce, remarriage, problem children, etc.), the closest I've come to "rules" is that I try to force them to experience the ripple effects of their decisions just like in real life. So when my daughter Sim walked in on her boyfriend cheating on her while she was pregnant, her father came and beat him up before moving her back home. Over the years (or I guess "weeks" in Sim time) the couple have reconciled but now she has to constantly talk him up to her parents and siblings. No one quite trusts him yet so whenever they get together for family functions, he doesn't show up so their kid is sad. But when he does show up, the daughter is tense because his relationship is so poor with everyone. Admittedly, I have to do some cheating to get relationships or effects the way I want it, but that's part of the fun for me.
