Having a pause mode reminds me of Tamagotchis. You could put those on pause and then you wouldn't lose them if you didn't play for a while. It would be interesting to see that feature in an Animal Crossing game. At least it's been better though. In Wild World someone would try to move every other day.
Wild World is a nightmare, when it comes to villagers moving out. You have to play every day, otherwise you might lose you're favorites villagers.