what is it that makes WW villagers want to move??

[xmenfan2001]

i know that whenever they're between hobbies, they have a chance to want to move - but why is it that it's ONLY the villagers i talk to most end up wanting to move? i've talked to curt maybe twice since he moved in, but i see him out and about every single day! the same goes for pate and anchovy ! but tangy has tried to move away twice now, whitney is moving away tomorrow, and rod (one of my starters) moved away without any warning !! do we know what the criteria is that determines if a villager in WW decides to move out??

 

[Mars Adept]

I think it’s just a random thing, although the moving system is different from both GCN and later games. I forget if they warn you days beforehand (I don’t think they do), but when they’re in boxes, enough talking will convince them to stay. It was arguably the easiest game to ‘keep’ your villagers in before Welcome amiibo introduced amiibo Card functionality and other quality of life elements.

 

[Introspective Onlooker]

Something I hated in every game pre-New Leaf was the random nature of villagers leaving, especially if they were the ones you cared too much to let go, instead of the ones you couldn't care less about. Just another instance of the RNG gods working against the player, I find.

I forget if they warn you days beforehand (I don’t think they do), but when they’re in boxes, enough talking will convince them to stay.

Unfortunately, they don't. It's pretty perplexing that in one game, you can convince villagers from moving out when they're packing, but not in later games. Don't know what Nintendo were smoking, but it's probably the same drug they took in massive amounts when they decided to make tools other than axes breakable in New Horizons.

It was arguably the easiest game to ‘keep’ your villagers in before Welcome amiibo introduced amiibo Card functionality and other quality of life elements.

I'm a bit confused with this, because you have to go inside their houses to even realize if they were moving or not. Even before the update, NL still had them warning the player five days in advance. It's not as good as ten, but it was still far better than them giving you a vague estimate, as in CF. And don't amiibo cards functioned similarly to E-Reader cards?

 

[JKDOS]

I'm a bit confused with this, because you have to go inside their houses to even realize if they were moving or not. Even before the update, NL still had them warning the player five days in advance. It's not as good as ten, but it was still far better than them giving you a vague estimate, as in CF. And don't amiibo cards functioned similarly to E-Reader cards?

The problem with New Leaf's was you had 1 chance to stop them from moving. You had to get that ping, and you had to answer to it. If you missed a ping because you walked into a building, took too long to respond, or hit a villager with a net, you lost it. Though I'm not entirely sure whether or not the game would have them ping you a second time if you missed it.

Although you wouldn't know a villager was moving in WW until they were already in boxes, as far as I remember, they were in boxes for 24 hours (no sleeping). So as long as you made 1 attempt to see that villager that day, you'd have your chance to convince them to stay.

Between the two games, for me at least, more times than not have found villagers in boxes moving out in New Leaf and had never seen their ping. Once you seem them in boxes, it's game over. With Wild World, when you see them in boxes, you can just tell them not to move, and they won't.

 

[Introspective Onlooker]

The problem with New Leaf's was you had 1 chance to stop them from moving. You had to get that ping, and you had to answer to it. If you missed a ping because you walked into a building, took too long to respond, or hit a villager with a net, you lost it. Though I'm not entirely sure whether or not the game would have them ping you a second time if you missed it.

Not so sure if it was that strict. Besides, I've had one of my villagers pinged me more than once for something trivial, such as a change in catchphrases and such. It'd be bad programming if players were only given one chance to convince their villagers from planning to move. Even then, other villagers could still point out that a particular one was thinking about moving, so the game did set the players up for the ping.

Between the two games, for me at least, more times than not have found villagers in boxes moving out in New Leaf and had never seen their ping. Once you seem them in boxes, it's game over. With Wild World, when you see them in boxes, you can just tell them not to move, and they won't.

I believe we can both agree the series would've benefited if they could warn you in advance, AND have them be convinced to stay while in boxes, instead of stripping out the ability of being able to do the latter altogether.