Can friendship levels go down?

[Imaginetheday]

I know I'm at max friendship level with 5 of my villagers (I have their photos), but I only received 3 presents today when passing out Santa gifts. That makes me wonder if the friendship has gone down. That concerns me a little because my birthday is in January and I know it helps to have high friendship levels to get more items.

 

[sigh]

DO NOT take my response as facts because i don't know for sure, but my guess is yes, it can go down. i imagine it goes down if you: hit them with nets, physically push them around with moving passed them (bc i've seen it bothers them), don't talk to them for whatever amount of time, and open their gifts to other villagers. of course i am not 100% sure on any of this, just guessing.

edit: i received presents from three villagers who i assume i have the highest level with

 

[Fye]

same here, I have received photos from at least five of my villagers but today I think I only got return presents from two of them. I tend to go days or longer without talking to them a lot so I think my friendship with them probably dropped.

 

[deana]

I also only got 3 gifts and I have photos of 8 out of 9 of my villagers. My most recent photo was from Marshal (within the last week so our friendship should be super high) yet I didn't get a gift from him so it seems like their might be more to do with this than just friendship levels. I couldn't really find any info on this in my own search though so maybe someone else will know more.

 

[Etown20]

I saw other people reporting only getting 3 return gifts (this was my experience, too), so I'm not sure, but I think that might have been standard.

This friendship guide is really good and covers just about everything: https://yuexr.github.io/acnh/friendship.html

According to that guide, the only way you lose friendship points is when you are mean to your villagers or failing certain quests. Refusing to do quests is fine. Not talking to them or not playing for a while doesn't appear to affect the friendship points.

 

[Rosch]

I have 8 villagers at max friendship, but I still only received 3 return gifts. That's probably it.

 

[JKDOS]

Yes they can go down, but you have to do mean things, like hitting with nets, planting pitfall seeds, opening apology gifts, not delivering apology gifts, saying you don't remember how villagers reacted to apology gifts, etc.

I too only received 3 gifts. I didn't even get one from Ankha, who just gave me her photo yesterday.

 

[ivelostmyspectacles]

I only got three gifts in return when I was playing "Santa's helper," but when I went back to give gifts as my actual rep self, I did get gifts from everyone. Roald is my newest villager that I know I haven't had time to level his friendship points, but he still gave a present when I wasn't dressed as Santa.

 

[Autumn_Leaves]

It seems like everyone gets 3 return gifts as that's how many I got as well. It must not have anything to do with friendship levels so you shouldn't worry about it. I think friendship levels only go down if you're actively being mean to them. So hopefully you should be fine.

 

[jasa11]

Nope, i got julians pic and havent talked to him in a long time yet he still gave me a return gift

 

[Imaginetheday]

Okay. Thanks! I feel better now.

 

[Monokuma73]

I think there are two separate topics.

1. Can be friendship level decreased? Yes, it can - it has been explained above.
2. Amount of "return gifts" is same, regardless of top friendship level - and it's three.

However, since the "event" is finished, it's a good idea to give all of them proper gifts (achievable from store for nearly one month or so) with nice wrapping and then proper gift exchange will begin.

 

[Underneath The Stars]

people said it can't, but i feel like it does. with certain mechanics, of course. but i'm starting to think even neglect can cause it, of course i'm not sure about that. it's just something that i feel & it's hard to get from this game because dialogue is quite dry and unrealistic. i'd have villagers who just moved in and already talking about rumors like she been here. uhh...

 

[Korichi]

Like other users have said, it seems like you can only get 3 gifts in return on Toy Day. I have high friendship with multiple villagers and I only got 3 gifts from them, so you should be good!! Your friendship with them has not decreased!! ^^

 

[RedPanda]

Yes I have max friendship with all my villagers and I also got just the three gifts. But I believe you can lose a friendship point or two for doing bad things to your villagers, like pushing them or hitting them. There is a guide to friendship here:

Ultimate Friendship Handbook

yuexr.github.io

 

[CuriousCharli]

YES friendship can go down.
I think it's explained in these videos:

 

[John Wick]

You know that sound you get when you've completed something?

It also happens when you deny the request.

I think that's taking points away, and it sucks that friendship has a monetary value, and an 'if you don't do this for me our friendship will take a hit' stipulation on it.

I wish the villagers were self sufficient, and I only had to greet them once a week.

I feel it's absurd to talk to ten villagers every time I load my game.

 

[Etown20]

You know that sound you get when you've completed something?

It also happens when you deny the request.

I think that's taking points away, and it sucks that friendship has a monetary value, and an 'if you don't do this for me our friendship will take a hit' stipulation on it.

I wish the villagers were self sufficient, and I only had to greet them once a week.

I feel it's absurd to talk to ten villagers every time I load my game.

I'm posting this with a grain of salt, but according to the data-miners, denying quests does not affect friendship (although it says it does in the official guide. There are other inconsistencies in the official guide as well).

Anecdotally, I've noticed villager dialogue is typically positive and in good spirits when I deny a quest. I always took the chime sound just as an indication the task/interaction was finished, but I don't know that for sure, I've just been referring to the datamines.

I have had villagers sometimes get upset when I don't let them buy something out of my pockets. Occasionally, there will even be an "are you sure" dialogue where they really want you to sell it to them. The only data I've seen on this type of interaction is that it is a +1 friendship point if you do sell to them.

 

[John Wick]

I'm posting this with a grain of salt, but according to the data-miners, denying quests does not affect friendship (although it says it does in the official guide. There are other inconsistencies in the official guide as well).

View attachment 349303

Anecdotally, I've noticed villager dialogue is typically positive and in good spirits when I deny a quest. I always took the chime sound just as an indication the task/interaction was finished, but I don't know that for sure, I've just been referring to the datamines.

I have had villagers sometimes get upset when I don't let them buy something out of my pockets. Occasionally, there will even be an "are you sure" dialogue where they really want you to sell it to them. I haven't seen any data on those interactions.

It's very Pocket Camp-ish, the whole 'friendship levels' deal.

I miss the good old days of WW, where friendships seemed to grow over time, and they'd send you gifts, or hand you their photo when you had earned it, and it wasn't based on how many bells the gift you sent them was worth.

 

[iamjohnporter67]

I mean if you really want to restart your friendship you should let your villagers move out and if you see them again you can invite them back onto your island so that way they won't keep bothering you about gifts and your nickname. My advice get amiibo cards.