For how long can you keep a plot empty?

[Silkfawn]

I kicked out Bunnie a couple of days ago and currently her plot is empty.

I'm going to refill it with one of the new villagers but they won't be out until next Friday.

So if I STOPPED moving the time forward and kept saving the game at the same day, will the plot be eventually occupied or will it remain empty?

 

[Mutti]

They are only empty for 1day. The next day it is automatically filled with a random character!

 

[Fridaynightcatlady]

I think it’s random (as in, sometimes 1 day other 2-3 days). However, if you have any villagers in your void it should fill up immediately the next day. Anyone feel free to correct me if I’m wrong.

 

[Silkfawn]

I know that it will refill after a couple of days, I'm just wondering if I manipulated the time so that it will stay in the same day until the update, will the plot still refill?

 

[Kg1595]

OP, are you expecting that you will get a new villager in your queue next Friday? Usually, there are a certain number of pre-selected villagers in your move-in queue at all times, so even if you TT back a day until Friday, your move-in queue is already set. I don’t believe move-in queues will reset next Friday, unfortunately.

 

[Silkfawn]

OP, are you expecting that you will get a new villager in your queue next Friday? Usually, there are a certain number of pre-selected villagers in your move-in queue at all times, so even if you TT back a day until Friday, your move-in queue is already set. I don’t believe move-in queues will reset next Friday, unfortunately.

No, I'm planning on villager hunting once the update is live.

 

[Mutti]

I know that it will refill after a couple of days, I'm just wondering if I manipulated the time so that it will stay in the same day until the update, will the plot still refill?

I do believe it will still fill up even if you try and prevent it, from what ive read over the last year about animal plots

 

[WaileaNoRei]

If you stay on the day, not moving forward, the plot will not change from open to filled. Because from the game’s perspective it will still be the same day! I have kept villagers in boxes before that way, while preparing to give them away. And stayed on the same day for multiple days for island hopping with no issue.

I don’t know if you will have to move forward in time to be able to access the new villagers. You will be able to download the update, definitely. It would depend if things are time-tied to it. Because if you have to jump forward several days your plot would almost certainly fill at that point.

 

[Silkfawn]

I don’t know if you will have to move forward in time to be able to access the new villagers. You will be able to download the update, definitely. It would depend if things are time-tied to it. Because if you have to jump forward several days your plot would almost certainly fill at that point.

But aren't the new villagers part of the update?
If I can update while my switch is not set to Nov 5th, I don't see how I won't have access to the new villagers.

 

[WaileaNoRei]

But aren't the new villagers part of the update?
If I can update while my switch is not set to Nov 5th, I don't see how I won't have access to the new villagers.

i don’t think there is a reason they won’t be. I’m just saying we don’t know at this point. Sometimes things are anchored to specific time points in the game, I don’t know if they will have an Isabelle announcement or something. No reason they have to be, and I don’t necessarily think that is likely. just wanted to mention the possibility, so you can plan for all contingencies.


I still think you might as well try though! Seems like there is a good chance it will work out.

 

[Kg1595]

You should be fine if you are hunting via mystery islands. Even if you TT back a day through 11/5, the update should still download regardless, and villagers should not be timelocked to a specific day. That said, you will miss realtime Halloween, but if you are already a TTer, that should not be an issue.

 

[moonshi]

So if I STOPPED moving the time forward and kept saving the game at the same day, will the plot be eventually occupied or will it remain empty?

Interesting! I would say yes, if you stay the same day all the time, the plot will remain empty. But I would make sure the time is set at around noon when you are going to sleep so that it doesn't get a chance to actually progress to the next day. I'm not sure if that make sense. That way, it stays the same day all the time, without you tting back to that day.

If it works, that's awesome and you can go hunting for the new villagers after the update.

I'll be interested to know if you can come back and update how it goes. Good luck!

 

[*~ Croissant ~*]

As long as you never pass 5AM the next day, you can literally keep TT back a few hours and stay on the same day for the rest of your life and never fill the plot. You could even find someone who TT and got the new Amiibos to put the new villager into boxes for you, so you won't even have to search yourself.

You don't even have to keep TT every few hours. Just shut down your game now and don't open it until Nov 5. And on the day of the update if you set the date back to today, the plot should still be empty because the game never registered the next day.

 

[Violet Witch]

I accidentally time travelled after a villager moved out and the plot was automatically filled when I stopped. It was a lesson learnt to not time travel between villagers moving out/in. Especially if I wanted a villager of my desire through a hunt or an online trade as oppose to letting the plot be filled automatically.

 

[DJStarstryker]

Before the first time I traded with anyone online, I had it last up to 2 days. But once I started trading with people online, their voided villagers started always coming to me the day after a move out.

I honestly just expect a villager to move in the day after one moves out now. If you want to island hop and hunt, you need to do it the day the villager moves out and hopefully find someone then because there's no guarantee that slot will stay open beyond that.

 

[solace]

You can keep the villager frozen in time or in your case freeze the day in time to keep the plot empty. Whatever date you are on keep playing it. You def do not want to hear Isabelle's announcement; that means new day has passed. Always reset your clock reflecting the date of the open plot.

However, coming from my own experience, you will be locked out of the updates. You're system will update but you will not have access to the new features. My island was frozen in time (June 2020) up until recently. Even though I was on the current update, I did not have access to the June wedding (2020), August fireworks, and the promotions tab until I surpassed year 2021.

 

[Khaelis]

The longest I've seen a plot empty was 4 days.

 

[Silkfawn]

However, coming from my own experience, you will be locked out of the updates. You're system will update but you will not have access to the new features. My island was frozen in time (June 2020) up until recently. Even though I was on the current update, I did not have access to the June wedding (2020), August fireworks, and the promotions tab until I surpassed year 2021.

Welp, I hope that won't be the case