*MailTime*

[vlr0316]

when writing letters to your villagers, do you actually write something as if theyre gonna read it in RL, or do you just vaguely say something knowing whatever you say isnt gonna matter bc its a game afterall and they wont know what youre even talking about?

do you think anyone really reads it? like the game/software, makers?

im just really curious, when ii send my 1st letter to them after theyve moved in, ii like to tell them theyre the most cutest (whatever animal they are) ive ever seen, and that ii hope we can be bffs!!

 

[UnwrittenTale]

Louie recognized that I was welcoming him to the town. I think they understand it much better than in the original game, where you could only do two lines of text at a time before a period. I send it as if they'll understand, and I'm always pleasantly surprised with the results. Wish someone had a comprehensive guide on letter writing for NL to really break down what the AI is capable of like was done in the original game.

 

[Imbri]

I can't write jibberish, so I write it as though I expect them to understand. The letters I get from them are well-written, and there's always the chance they're going to show off a letter, down the road, so better to have something that doesn't make you cringe.

If I'm sending furniture or clothing, I mention the name of it, saying it would look great in their home or on them (as appropriate) and that I can't wait to see it.

 

[Livvy]

I always write a nice note, as if they would understand.

 

[tiffanistarr]

Usually when a villager moves I send them a Welcome Letter and Welcome Present and I've noticed that they do in fact recognize the word Welcome because they will say something along the lines of "thank you for the welcome letter" and when I haven't used the word welcome in a first letter to a villager they won't react to it.

After the welcome letter i usually get pretty lazy and will just say something like "Just wanted to write and say hello, how have you been lately? are you liking the weather we have lately? let's hang out soon!" or something similar to that. If there were other trigger words that they could pick up on, I definitely would use those more often and put more effort into the letters.

 

[vlr0316]

oh wonderful!! im glad others write to them as ii do, they are really cute lil animals! as someone pointed out to me though mines are all 'short' and how can they reach the fountain, ii thought it was pretty funny.. ii hadnt realized it before, so my villagers are cute, short and adorable lol

 

[Dorian]

If you write them a letter during the week of their birthday, they will thank you for the birthday wishes and gift. If you write them the week they move in, they will write you back thanking you for welcoming them to town. I think that's about it as far as personal responses. But I usually write about the gift I am sending and hoping they will like it or can use it.

 

[Elephantmarshmallow]

One time a few years ago I told marshal to promise me he?d never leave, he replied telling me he wouldn?t ever leave me so I?m sure they understand what you?re writing to them. I don?t send mailthat much anymore but when I do I act as if they?re real

 

[vlr0316]

@elephant awwww thats so cute!! well that def. proves they understand! thats so awesome! thanks for sharing that

 

[MapleSilver]

I always try to make them intelligible. Even if it's just a game, other people will still read them if your villager ends up in their town. Plus I just like to pretend my villagers can read them, even though they technically can't.

- - - Post Merge - - -

What would be really interesting is if they made use of something like Cleverbot. That way your villagers could reply to you as if they have actually read your letter.

 

[Croconaw]

I write as if they understand. I know the villagers understand. I treat them as my real friends.

 

[vlr0316]

it would be nice to have them respond to what you write them, if you ask them their favorite food/color, how they enjoy living in your town.. (although @ this point ive never really asked those questions, ii think im gonna send them all a letter and ask and see)

ii treat them like theyre my real friends! im on ACNL almost 24/7 lol, heck ii dont have a life.. so yea of course ill treat them well and enjoy talking to them and caring for them lol

 

[Underneath The Stars]

I avoid writing them quick gibberish letters*, just because. Haha. I love my villagers so I send them letters as they would understand. The only time I send quick unimportant notes would be when I keep resending them gifts, it's tiring if they're being difficult and don't want to display items I really want in their house.

I think they the developers coded something to detect what the letter says, or at least the event. I love sending welcome letters & gifts to new move in's and birthday cards and they actually do respond to the topic of what I wrote. If you tell them to stay, at times they do respond too. It's neat even though it's automated tbh. T_T


*My brother writes them gibberish letters and it's annoying as hell when a villager is showing you a letter and they say nice things to it when the letter doesn't even make sense.

 

[MapleSilver]

This is really interesting me. If anyone here is into data mining, it could be really interesting to see how this system works. Is there a list of existing letters made by the developers, or are they somehow able to generate their own? How does the game choose which letter to send? I'd do it myself, but I really know nothing about coding.

 

[purple_vixen]

This is really interesting me. If anyone here is into data mining, it could be really interesting to see how this system works. Is there a list of existing letters made by the developers, or are they somehow able to generate their own? How does the game choose which letter to send? I'd do it myself, but I really know nothing about coding.

I would really love to see the results of this

I write to each of my villagers every day that I play, and I talk to them about my day and ask them questions about their days. I don't expect them to understand or to respond - sometimes it feels like I am just typing my thoughts out as if I was writing a journal. In very short, multiple parts Except I wouldn't attach virtual gifts to each diary entry(!)


Vix.

 

[vlr0316]

@maplesilver that is actually very interesting, although iam no genius to coding so i have no idea what to do or where to begin bht that would be cool to know!!!

- - - Post Merge - - -

@underneath the stars ive gotten lazy on the writing, im trying to get the pwps and thats actually taken sometime, so on top of doing the pwps diving trick, the daily coupons missions, visiting the Dream Suite and Fortune thing for my badges, its ALOT of work and tiring lol, so ii stopped writing such long notes and ask a question here and there and then be done with the letter unfortunately lol..

 

[katysu]

Underneath The Stars makes a very notable point - that the villagers do respond with meaning to an initial welcome letter and Birthday letter from you - I use the word 'welcome' (& the word 'friend') in the initial letter I send to a villager - and as said they do respond to it.
Similarly to a Happy Birthday letter - I use birthday card notepaper as well.

The welcome letter I see as quite important in the sense this is one that villagers do tend to show off a lot, so I use nice paper (rather than say the note paper Isabelle gives you as part of her opening tutorial) as I'm going to be seeing it quite often.
In the initial letter I send to the 5 starting villagers I say thankyou for your warm welcome to 'town name'

In acnl you can write anything you like and the villagers respond, but apart from the Welcome & Birthday letters I haven't seen any understanding of what I've written.

In previous games you had to spell correctly, couldn't use non-standard abbreviations, (well not text), and not split a word between lines. In acww there were words that were considered to be key words (well words that seem to get a good response) these were 'present', 'friend', possibly 'thanks' or 'thank you', 'gift' & 'love'. Don't think these words are important in acnl.

The spelling & not writing gibberish was proven in wild world, its not been researched for new leaf - but I follow wild world 'rules' to a certain extent - correct spelling, but write what I like, I sometimes use the key words, but it doesn't get me any better response!

Sometimes you get a gift back, sometimes you don't, but you do need to include a gift. The rule that the length of letter decided what you got back as a gift no longer applies, sadly.

If you write each villager one letter daily its fast to get the gold badge for writing letters (200 letters) & its an easy way to maintain friendship, useful if you deny a villager a request/or can't fulfil one.

Edit: only one letter daily per villager 'counts' in acnl - in acww you could blitz villagers with letters - - can't remember why we did that? - to max out friendship I guess?

Villagers can send you letters without you sending one to them first - sometimes they include a gift, often they don't. I presume it is a mark of your friendship with them.

 

[vlr0316]

@katysu ii didnt know there was a badge to get for writing letters!! thanks for sharing that info!!