After only a few days of inactivity

[MelbaBear]

So this morning I went onto AC, and lately I?ve only been playing for a few mins a day, but I still try to play almost every day. I went past Shep?s house and it was gone!! He?s moved out and I didn?t know anything about it even though I?ve only been inactive for a few days! this?ll teach me not to speak to my villagers for a few days I guess
all that time plot resetting as well. Argh! Has this ever happened to anyone else?

 

[honeyblossom]

Villagers want to move out like, every three days. Sometimes more sometimes less. What probably happened is that the last time you played, Shep already wanted to move out and you never got the ping for it, and since you never got the chance to tell him to stay, he just busted out.

I think it's kinda messed up that this happens. I don't know why the devs thought this would be a good schedule to implement. They could have at least coded an option to set with Isabelle in town hall to tell her that you're on vacation or whatever and that you won't be playing daily. That way it could bypass the villagers trying to move out until you turn it back off. I've lost a fair few loved villagers to not playing frequently enough.

 

[Becca617]

I've been there. In my opinion something like this shouldn't be in the game because it upsets everyone. You shouldn't have to force yourself to play each day just so a certain loved villager doesn't move out. I love the idea of telling Isabelle you're going on vacation and taking a break so that this doesn't happen.

 

[Alienfish]

Yeah that is messed up, that's why I try to check at least once a day if I can.. And yeah I agree this game is forcing too much on you, not everyone got the time to do that (or want).

 

[tiffanistarr]

This has happened to me too! It's frustrating because it adds another stresser to my already stressful life. I agree with others that there should be an option to go into a vacation mode. We should never be forced to play and then there be repercussions when we don't. I got sick this past winter and was out for a couple weeks and I lost Cole that way. I'm happy he lurks around main street and I probably would have eventually moved him out anyways, but I don't like the fact that they can sneak out like that. It's just annoying.

 

[Chicha]

Aww, sorry to hear that! that’s happened to me before as well with Coco. That happened prior the welcome amiibo update. Villagers can be so sneaky. Like others said, it would have been more useful to have a vacation option or an ordinance where no one can move.

A helpful tip is if you’re planning on not playing for a while, make sure to talk to your villagers so you’ll have an idea if they share rumors. If someone suggests another villager is moving, save and quit then reopen the game. Find that villager and have them ping you to prevent them from moving. Once you’ve secured them to not leave, save and quit and voila! The game will not allow anyone else to move no matter how long you don’t play until you replay again at a later date and the rumors and will start over again.

If you’re ever confused when was the last time you played, you can check for a date in your Activity Log on the 3DS menu. That way if you’re really concerned, you can time travel back to that date and slowly get yourself to the current date.

Hopefully the next main AC game takes note of this issue to make it easier. It’s so hard to keep up with villagers long after you’ve completed your town or just don’t have the time. x_x

 

[AndroGhostX]

The game gives you 10 days to convince the villager to stay or leave. So it would be a good idea to talk to your villagers every time you play, even if it is every couple or days, to see if anyone is moving.

 

[John Wick]

Muffy moved without any warning and I only TT'd between two days, back and forth, talking to everyone.

The only explaination I can think of is that one of the days was an event and they couldn't ping me.

It happened twice.

Walt was the other villager.

 

[~Unicorn~]

usually what i do before i go inactive on acnl again is check for a ping, or for one of my villagers to mention someone is moving. once i get the ping, i decline and then save and quit.

next time i’m on acnl, nobody has moved!

 

[honeyblossom]

Yeah, they won't ping on events. I almost lost Pudge because I was getting rumors he was thinking about moving on the Fishing Tourney so I time traveled one day and thankfully he was still there. He still wasn't pinging me but, I trapped him by the beach, did the diving trick and forced him to stay. I would be devastated if I lost him.

 

[That Marshal Fangirl]

Oh no, I'm so sorry! This is why I have the amiibo cards of all my villagers so I can safely leave for while. It would be nice of there was a feature that prevented certain villagers from leaving at all.

 

[AndroGhostX]

Oh no, I'm so sorry! This is why I have the amiibo cards of all my villagers so I can safely leave for while. It would be nice of there was a feature that prevented certain villagers from leaving at all.

You can basically go on hiatus after a villager pings you to leave and you say no. Because if you just play that day, they won't leave while you are on hiatus. Idk why that happens, maybe the developers considered hiatus and moving villagers and thought it would be a safe amd convient method, which it is.

 

[Dorian]

I have a schedule to make sure none of my villagers move from any of my towns. Every six days, I check for pingers. It used to be every five until they changed the move out to ten days rather than seven. I find my pinger, note the date and then set a date on my schedule for six days ahead. So if I am in one of my towns and Grizzly pings on a Wednesday, I note the date, count six days ahead and make sure I go one that day (the following Tuesday) to check for my next pinger and so on. I have had this implemented for a few years now and have not lost a villager since. Prior to that, I lost a few, but none since. Just my system. I'm sorry you lost your Shep. I know how heartbreaking that is when it happens.

 

[supercataleena]

I am sorry that happened to you. Although, this is why we are meant to stick to only one waifu at a time. All can go, except the main waifu! Only talk to one main one and sacrifice the rest to the void.

 

[Garrett]

At least we get some notice these days. I started a new GameCube town last year and I was shocked that a villager left after the first day!

The original game sure was hardcore.