I Don't Even Know Who You Are Anymore!

Like anything else worth having, friendships and love affairs require maintenance. As with your motives, your relationship scores decay over time, albeit much more slowly. With every day that passes between instances of Socialization between your Sim and an acquaintance, their mutual relationship scores will drop by two points each. This isn't something that you'll need to worry about daily, but it can cause even your closest confidants and lovers to eventually stop counting themselves as your friend, which will eventually prevent you from gaining promotions at work.

For characters who are your friends, you'll receive a warning or two as your relationship score drops towards the terminal point for friendship. If this occurs, you should try to call up that character and invite him or her over for some intense one-on-one interactions in an attempt to drive your scores back up into the 80's or higher. If you ignore the first message, you'll receive another message soon afterwards notifying you that you let that friend slip away. Nevertheless, you don't have to be too diligent about keeping your friends close by; the same Socialization moves that worked before can make that character your friend again, so feel free to wait until a convenient moment to Socialize.

The same basic process is true of lovers. If you let your relationship with a lover decay down into the 60's, they will become "just friends". The only difference here is that you aren't notified of this change, so keep an eye on your relationship menu and take the necessary steps to keep your lovers interested in you.

How To Be A Good Host

When you reach the higher levels of your career and have been happily situated in a home for awhile, you'll need to exert extra effort to maintain the broad number of friendships that got you to that point. Luckily, you should have plenty of money to spend on items that can be used to entertain large groups of people. Most of these items can be used by one Sim to boost your Fun score, but if multiple Sims are around, you can let them join you for extra relationship points.

The most basic group activity is the boob tube. If you pick out a nice, wide couch, up to three people will be able to restore their Social, comfort, and Fun motives at the same time, all while adding to their relationship scores. The Soma Plasma Television is probably the most cost-effective choice here, as it is 50% more Fun than the normal color television, and adds a room bonus as well. It will set you back $3,500, plus whatever you spend on your couch, but even that's a drop in the bucket compared to the Information Overlord TV at $9,499. The Soma is well worth the investment, if you can swing the cash, so you may want to wait until your Sim gets a raise and splurge with his or her bonus money to outfit one of your nicer rooms with the big-screen tube.

Another good choice for mass Socialization is a hot tub, if you can afford one. The Hot Spring Conversion Kit is unlockable at Pixel Acres, and offers up six comfort, three Hygiene, and two Fun for everyone who takes a dip, as well as adding Socialization and relationship points when two Sims get in together, but will set you back a cool $5,000. The Whirlwizard is available without needing to be unlocked, but actually offers fewer benefits than the Hot Spring while costing $1,500 more. Whichever model you choose, your hot tub will help you satisfy a large number of motives while letting you rack up relationship points, especially at parties.

Next, the various stereo systems will let any Sims within earshot join your Sim for a dance or two. The Strings Theory Stereo is very cost-effective here, offering five Fun to anyone who chooses to dance at a bargain cost of $2,550. If you're really looking to get down, you can combine this item with the Bounce My Booty Dance Floor, which adds another ten Fun for anyone who interacts with it. Combined, this duo will set you back over 10,000 simoleons, but ensures that all of your guests will have maxed-out Fun motives, and thus will be a bit more appreciative of your Socialization attempts.

One last big-ticket item for group Fun is the Hellagraphix 1024 "Diamond Edition" video game system, easily unlockable early in the Bustin' Out mode by getting a promotion in the Paramilitary track. It'll set you back almost 5,000 simoleons, but offers a massive nine Fun to anyone who uses it. What's even more impressive is the number of people who can sit around and enjoy the Fun: if you throw a party, you should rearrange your house to have as many comfortable chairs around the Hellagraphix as possible, because it's not uncommon to see half a dozen characters pick up a controller and go for the top score.

If you're looking for cheaper forms of Fun, though, the Miscellaneous category in your Buy menu has a host of options, some of which will especially appeal to Sims that have chosen to be highly Active. The Strip Poker and Basketball Hoop both let a pair of Sims Socialize while having Fun together, although an even better choice is the Table Tennis set that's unlockable at Pixel Acres. For a mere 50 dollars more than a Basketball Hoop, Table Tennis offers two more Fun points; just keep in mind that this isn't something a Sim can do by himself. If you have more cash to spend, one of the pool table models lets one or two Sims play together, but neither of these offers a substantially higher Fun rating than ping-pong.