Keeping a Neighbor!

[snapdragon]

I'm so confused! Muffy moved in a bit ago and I've talked to her everyday (multiple times a day), completed her requests, sent her letters and today she tried to move!!!!! Of course I said no because I want her as a permanent villager in my town, but why did SHE want to move? Is it random which villagers choose to move??? >_<

I'd appreciate any insight!

 

[Chessa]

Yep, it is random. Some people think ignoring or becoming friends has influence on that but in my case the villagers who like me want to leave. One of the goals of the game is to befriend villagers so when you have done that a villager will try to move

 

[juneau]

I feel like it's pretty random, and to me it seems like better friends have a higher tendency to move than just acquaintances. I had a similar situation with you, Ankha moved in recently from the campsite and I talked to her every day, and just a few days after she moved in she told me she wanted to leave, too.

So yeah, I think as long as you're friends of any kind with them, they'll occasionally ask to move, and it's all random. My closest villagers whom I've had since I started the game and talk to every day still ask to move, and new villagers that started living here not too long ago ask to move, even if I treat them well. In fact, it seemed to me the ones I didn't talk to as much wouldn't move as quickly, so I ended up befriending the villagers I didn't like as well, and now they've all left.

 

[snapdragon]

Hmm, that does make sense...because when villagers I didn't like (and didn't talk to much) tried to move (I said an emphatic YES), they would always change their mind! Thanks for the insight Chessa and Nerakil!!! I guess the moral of the story is to not take it too personally heh heh ^^; and I'll just have to pay attention to everyone to ensure that the villagers I love stay and the rest can feel free to explore other towns

- - - Post Merge - - -

And it makes me feel better knowing it's random!!!

 

[Ras]

If someone you want to leave ever changes their mind, you can always close to the Home menu without saving and start again. They'll ping you again. It may take a few times, but they'll eventually agree to move. Had to do that with Marshal because I ignored him because I wanted him to be pretty pure for the friend I was giving him to, so he kept saying he was going to stay to work on our friendship. He finally gave in.

Just be careful, because you will lose everything else you've done that day if you quit without saving.

 

[Yui Z]

I feel it's random too actually :/ I tried both ignoring and befriending.

 

[Gingersnap]

Usually other animals tell me that so and so is moving, so I stop said moving animal before they can move.

 

[Mynorchielle]

One of my villagers said she wanted to move away, and sadly enough I was happy to let her go. When I told her to follow her instincts, she suddenly thought it was sad that we weren't that good friends (she was a bit surprised about me being so couraging) and cancelled her leaving. I haven't actually been that nice to her (I have hit her with the bug net etc.)

So if thinking about moving away happens randomly, is cancelling moving plans after being positive about it random too? D:

 

[Rendra]

I had Camofrog ask to leave yesterday and he said yes. Today, I talked to him and he brought up moving again and I said yes again. This time he said we need to get to be better friends (I've gotten multiple pictures of him), so he said he was staying. I usually tell a villager they can leave, if I've gotten their picture or they have been around forever, so hopefully I would get their picture when they do move out (Charlise & Bertha). I have one villager that has been here since August and I talk to them rarely, but they have never asked to move out, because I would let them go in a heartbeat (Gloria, bad location of house).

 

[Gummysaur]

it's based on friendship. If you never talk to them and they ask to move and you say "go," they'll stay because they want to build higher friendships with you.

 

[Ceres]

it's based on friendship. If you never talk to them and they ask to move and you say "go," they'll stay because they want to build higher friendships with you.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure that there is a higher chance that they will stay if they're not friends with you yet. You can still reload and try again since there is still a chance that they will be okay to move, its just less likely.

 

[cheezu]

In my experience, the villagers I am good friends with try to move more frequently than others and they also ping me much more often for trades, gifts or other things. Also, I've tested the "ignoring" method and it really didn't work for me as even though I got the ping to move, the villager decided to stay anyway to become "better friends". So, I think that if you want someone to actually value your opinion when you tell them "bye", being good friends is definitely helpful.
If you want a villager out and they already agreed to move - do not talk to them again! They can change their mind and often will. Ignore them until their moving date (or TT to that date if you do that).
So yeah, it is nothing personal though I find the mechanic a bit silly as it doesn't really make sense realistically that villagers you're good friends with would want to move out more frequently. Coincidentally, I once attacked my villager with a net over the span of a few days because I read somewhere (another incorrect guide) that this will make them move faster but it's really just the opposite. But yeah, I guess in real life no one would want to live in a town run by an abusive mayor so I can understand why some people would think that that might work.

 

[Yen Quest]

Basing on the speculations of this thread so far, it seems that your friendship value has higher play in frequency of requests, along with more power in determining decisions for a villager. Going by this idea, someone has to befriend said character for it to be effective. Ignoring villagers has helped me a lot, so I would do a combination of the two ideas, having a secondary character ignore the unwanted villager to improve his/her moving pings, and the main character to make the moving as decisive.