What's the best way to check for moving villagers?

[Artistra]

Talking to villagers and waiting for them to say something about rumors doesn't seem to be working. And I've heard stories that say none of them will ping you even if you walk in front of them. Is there some surefire way to make sure, or what's the best way to check if a villager is moving?

 

[HopeForHyrule]

Talk to multiple villagers until they either give a generic line about rumors or tell you they heard so-and-so is thinking of moving.

The worst thing is when a villager is sick, because then that method becomes WORTHLESS.

And yeah, they won't always ping you. That's where save and quit and reloading the game comes in handy. Sometimes you have to do this a few times, but they WILL ping. Eventually.

I wish there was a better way to go about this, but sadly there isn't.

 

[Breath Mint]

Wait until all your villagers are awake before you load your town for the first time on a given day. Load your town, and there will be exactly five villagers outside. If there is a mover, it will be one of those five. Run in front of all of them to check for pings. If they don't ping, they aren't moving. If one pings about something else, that villager is not moving. However, if the first villager you see pings you about that furniture you're carrying, you won't be able to check the other four villagers because you can't be pinged more than once in five minutes unless you save, quit, & reload. Make sure you give all five of those villagers the opportunity to ping you.

 

[Artistra]

Thanks guys! C:

 

[Inka]

http://www.belltreeforums.com/showthread.php?145364-Villager-Moving-Rumors-(guide)

Someone posted this link in another thread today. Seems like it's a very good guide.

 

[TheGreatBrain]

It also helps to play with an alt character. If my mayor can't get a moving ping, my alts usually can. The reason is, villagers ping more when you have a high friendship with them. Since my alts don't play as much, they don't get many pings. However, when there's a villager planning to move, they will almost always ping to tell the they're moving. ( I hope that made sense.lol. )

 

[HHoney]

I am reorganizing my main town and am in the process of moving out a few villagers I've had for a long time. Sooo they have very high friendship with me.

One of them is in boxes today, and I found out after much pestering of ALL other villagers. I knew it was coming as there were no other pings for a few days. But when she walked in front of me - no ping. This happened for the 5 days before she moved out!

She did ping in front of my alt character, just like TheGreatBrain just mentioned.

Also - if it is a holiday event especially a bug or fish day, pings are nearly impossible. Keep that in mind.
Personally I am obsessed with asking all the other villagers if they know anything. The guide posted below me is really helpful.

It's not a foolproof science, but if you are careful things can be okay.

Best tip I recently heard? If you think there is a chance someone is moving and you don't want them to move....when 6am rolls around start a new character. When they get to town, have them look inside all the houses with villagers. If there is a villager in boxes - DO NOT SAVE THE GAME - quit, and go back to the previous day you were playing. That is your day to hassle them with whatever characters you have and make them ping you outside so you can say no!

I hope this makes sense. It has been really helpful for me.

 

[Capeet]

http://www.belltreeforums.com/showthread.php?145364-Villager-Moving-Rumors-(guide)

Someone posted this link in another thread today. Seems like it's a very good guide.

This is the safest way imo. Not always the fastest but definitely safest. I've never lost a villager when I've followed the guide in the link. Personally I'd never trust the pinging method over this one. The guide introduces a way to determine whether a villager's moving out or not by talking to villagers. There's either a rumor circulating that a villager is moving out, or other kinds of rumors to indicate that no one is moving. Not everyone knows about the latter rumors and they make it much more easier to figure out if someone's moving out or not. This way you have a sure way of knowing.

 

[namiieco]

Pinging is the fastest but you an mess it up if your careless.
A villager that wants to move will always be outside, not in any shops or houses. They will not ping you if you haven't talked to them for a whole week, so make sure to talk to them every now and then. I use this method and it's really fast, the rumour thing is tedious and no fun!

 

[Breath Mint]

Pinging is the fastest but you an mess it up if your careless.
A villager that wants to move will always be outside, not in any shops or houses. They will not ping you if you haven't talked to them for a whole week, so make sure to talk to them every now and then. I use this method and it's really fast, the rumour thing is tedious and no fun!

I agree with this. It's so much faster and easier than checking for rumors all the time. A potential mover WILL ping you about moving out unless:

a) You were just pinged beforehand (in that case wait a few minutes or reload)
b) You haven't talked to said villager for over a week
c) It's the day of an event, villagers will not ping on those days at all

 

[SilkSpectre]

Go slow and talk to 2 villagers til you exhaust them.

 

[stitchmaker]

I always do a circle around town to find out who is outside and wait for the first ping of the day. Than I talk to the villagers outside and inside their houses for rumor mover or rumor talk. If there is no rumor talk than I just go about my daily routine and wait for a ping. Going to the beach for awhile and than back up will get the villagers to ping.

For bug/fish offs all the villagers inside get spoke to a lot until they give up the rumor talk or rumor mover.
For events like the fireworks I play earlier in the day to make sure no one is moving.

I've had a rumor about a villager moving and it was her birthday. Lolly stayed in her house till midnight and than went to sleep. I didn't worry because I just had a mover 2 day ago. Lolly ran up the next day and pinged me.

I also use my extra players to check for movers. One time I had a lot of rumor talk from all the villagers using my mayor earlier in the day. When my extra player was out hunting for bugs a villager pinged her for a move. Earlier he gave the mayor the rumor talk. Not sure what happened.