Preventing Villagers from Moving Away...?

[Tangerine]

I was thinking about all the Villagers I really want to have in my town, and then I realized... Once I get them, I want to make sure that they stay. But I've noticed that my Villagers usually try to move away after a ninth Villager House is built. I want to know if there's a way that I can keep them in my town without having to constantly play the game and convince everyone not to move when they try to do so. After all, Bree moved away from my town during my 4-month long absence from my town, and I was a little bit sad about that.

Will I just have to check my town every day?

 

[Sir Takoya]

I wonder if them leaving items at re-tail will stop them from moving? Because they have to sell their item before they move? not sure.

 

[LambdaDelta]

No, they just take the Re-Tail item(s) with them (I lost a handful of extra sloppy furniture this way) when they move.

Though villagers usually give a 5 day window before moving, so you could just check every 2-3 days. Not much of a difference, but its something.

 

[Tangerine]

Oh well. I guess I'll just have to make sure to play somewhat frequently. I was a little hopeful, since a friend of mine said she started playing again recently and still had all of her Villagers. Hmm...

 

[Piroshi]

Nope, you just have to keep checking, and make sure you talk to them at least once a week, otherwise they won't ping you until you do. I've accidentally lost villagers this way.

 

[Suave_Spencer]

Oh well. I guess I'll just have to make sure to play somewhat frequently. I was a little hopeful, since a friend of mine said she started playing again recently and still had all of her Villagers. Hmm...

If nobody has decided to move out, you can stop playing for as long as you want. They won't decide to leave if you aren't playing. For example, I have Roscoe moving out on 27th. If I stopped playing today, nobody would move out apart from him.

 

[Tangerine]

But... When I stopped playing for 4 months, Bree moved away while I was gone. But then again, she was the only one to move, so never mind. I guess she was already planning to move when I left, and she just never got a chance to ping me...?

 

[Ras]

Yep. If you know you want to stop playing for a while, wait until someone asks you to move. Stop them, and you could come back in ten years and still have your villagers.

Alternately, you could go in as a new character the next time you play and make sure no one is gone (check in occupied houses to make sure they aren't in boxes). If they aren't, cool. If they are gone, try to remember the last time you played and set the game back to that day and stop them. You can either write down the date or look in your 3DS activity log before you play for the last date.

 

[kasane]

If you have 9 or 10 villagers present in your town, one will definitely move, no matter what.
But then again if you have 8, the game will automatically give you a 9th one >_>
Just check around your town to see if anyone pings about that x:

 

[cheezu]

In order to ensure that no one moves out, stop someone from leaving first, then save and quit the game and you're all good.

- - - Post Merge - - -

Alternately, you could go in as a new character the next time you play and make sure no one is gone (check in occupied houses to make sure they aren't in boxes). If they aren't, cool. If they are gone, try to remember the last time you played and set the game back to that day and stop them. You can either write down the date or look in your 3DS activity log before you play for the last date.

^ and this.