Is it hard for you to replace a longtime villager?

[ShawnFuzz]

I recently made the decision to say goodbye to some of my longtime villagers for some new faces. It hasn't been easy, and I worry I may have made a mistake. For example, I am replacing Diva, who was one of my two starting villagers, and she was the very first one I talked to when I had just a campsite.

I know it is silly to be sad over saying goodbye to a video game character, but it is funny how these villagers really grow on you!

Is it hard for anyone else to say goodbye to a longtime villager?

 

[Clock]

Not really, I replaced a few villagers in NL and NH. Closest to where I almost found it hard was Bertha, idk shes underrated but she grew on me and she moved out some point.

 

[azurill]

I definitely get attached to my villagers. That’s why 9 of my villagers on my main island are permanent villagers. I still have Flo who was one of my starters. Eventually brought back my other stater Buck when I got his Amiibo card. I try to see different villagers on my second island but still and up getting attached to them so they end up staying longer then I planned.

 

[TN4U]

I grew so attached to Patty, who's my last remaining random villager from my starting five, that I never considered moving her out after all these years. Another villager from the starting five, Coco, lasted over three years, but she didn't grow on me as much as Patty did. As for the rest of the villagers I invited that are displayed in my signature (as of this post), they're all pretty much here to stay. I know for a fact that I'm never going to move out Bob, Cherry, Dotty, Lopez and Kyle (who shares my birthday and matches my aesthetic almost perfectly). Some of these villagers may even be permanent residents in the next mainline game. That's how much I care about them.

I suppose the reason why I have such a large emotional attachment to my longtime villagers is because they got me through such a socially difficult time in my life, and I've grown into a more sensitive person as a result. It wasn't like this with New Leaf, but I found it very hard to let specific villagers go when they asked. I know these are fictional characters I'm communicating with and the dialogue is shared for the most part, but for villagers like Bob and Mallary whom I've almost exclusively associated their respective lazy and snooty personalities with, I prefer to keep them with me for the long run. My way of thinking probably has something to do with my OCD and being somewhat hesitant to change, so that's why I always have a difficult time in letting longtime villagers I like just walk away.

 

[Nunnafinga]

Yeah,on my islands the villagers that have been around the longest are the ones that stick around.Frett,Sasha and Ace were on my island from the very early days and while I've switched out the other seven villagers several times,these three guys are still there.

 

[AccfSally]

I want to do this with Nibbles (even though I have her amiibo card). I been thinking of replacing her for Gabi or Bonbon (again) because I want four bunnies again.
What to do.

 

[Halloqueen]

Most of the time, not really. At the end of the day, while the villagers have individual designs, they're ultimately more or less the same as an other villagers of their same personality (subtypes aside). Whenever I've decided to replace a villager in New Horizons, I work to acquire max friendship with them and receive their photo. Once that's achieved, it feels like I've gotten what I'm going to get out of them and I'm ready for them to go. My villagers are specifically chosen to be permanent residents, but sometimes I tire of a design and decide that it's time for a change, and stuff like the updates that introduce new villagers (like the one around the release of the Happy Home Paradise DLC in New Horizons) or bring back old ones (Welcome Amiibo update in New Leaf) bring new possibilities.

I can't say that it's never happened though. I decided to replace Mott in one of my New Leaf towns years ago, but as his departure approached I felt regret and when he left I was kinda bummed. Deciding I wanted to reclaim him, and because there were more villagers I wanted to experience, I ended up making an additional town, my circus & magic show town.

 

[Alolan_Apples]

Gameplay-wise - no. I can approve of villagers moving out at any time.

Emotion-wise - yes. I don’t want to let go of any of my villagers, especially after all the work I put onto their houses and stuff.

 

[Chere.]

I've definitely gotten attached to some villagers unexpectedly and it was harder to say goodbye to them when that time came, though I think I'm pretty superficial because if the villager is ugly enough I definitely don't feel anything. Now that I'm thinking on it, I never really got stuck with villagers I found ugly (or if I did they were gone too fast...).

Back on topic though, I think there's only some where it felt hard. Phoebe was a villager I always liked design wise. I originally brought her in my NL town but she didn't really work well so I let her go despite being on my dreamie list back then. I brought her into NH to give her another chance but again, I just wasn't feeling it for whatever reason. I had her for quite a while though, as I hoped she'd grow on me. Letting her go was a little sad, but it had to be done.

Another villager I had trouble letting go of was Whitney, who was fairly recent. I justified it because although she's one of my favourite villagers (not to mention my favourite wolf villager alongside Wolfgang), I already had her in my New Leaf town, and her interactions with other villagers seemed kind of limiting. I have a story for my ACNH character and villagers, and it was kind of hard to tie her in with everyone. I had her house decorated and loved the area I had for her. I can't recall how long she was on my island exactly but it was definitely 2-3 years I wanna say? It was sad when she was finally gone, but I felt less said once I started playing New Leaf again for the recent TBT event and saw her there. ;v;

 

[ShawnFuzz]

I am glad I am not the only one to get attached emotionally! I have been making sure to gather the amiibo's of the special villagers I let go, so if things don't work out I can bring them back.

After reading some comments around various threads I have seen that a lot of you have more than one island. That thought had never occurred to me so I just now gave in and got a Switch Lite so I can experience a whole new set of villagers! I am rather looking forward to seeing who my random's are, and starting new friendships!

 

[WaileaNoRei]

I do get attached. Which is why they are probably never leaving. In particular, Genji is not really my favorite jock anymore (I’d probably choose Stinky, or Mac, or Hamlet.) But my Genji, who’s been with me since 2020, as my original island resident, is my dear little buddy who I can never let go of. (He also still has a starter house, which I also got attached to…)

I am glad I am not the only one to get attached emotionally! I have been making sure to gather the amiibo's of the special villagers I let go, so if things don't work out I can bring them back.

After reading some comments around various threads I have seen that a lot of you have more than one island. That thought had never occurred to me so I just now gave in and got a Switch Lite so I can experience a whole new set of villagers! I am rather looking forward to seeing who my random's are, and starting new friendships!

I did get a switch lite to have a second island, but I actually find I never can really get into playing it the way I am attached to my original island. And I simply don’t have enough time to make play two games (I don’t even have time for everything there is to do in my one game )

I do like having the second island though, if for no other reason than if you are very very unsure of getting rid of a villager, you can move them to the second island as sort of a holding place.

 

[Giddy]

Despite having quite a few amiibo cards of my favourite villagers; it's never easy when they want to move off the Island. I do generally allow it to experience newer villagers. Ones I've never had before.
Heck, Julian is my one fav but I never had him until I gave him a go on New Horizons. So it shows, that even though it's sad saying goodbye, it's more see you later, so you can experience and love more villagers, and be able to bring them back easier this time around in the game.

I love Vivian, but I know that I would love to try out more people, so, until I get her villager photo; she's all good on leaving. I've made her house nice too, I did a pretty good job on it, and wouldn be nice to give her away~

I feel like the only one, now that I think about who can't leave is Nan. I was going to say Julian too, but I haven't done as much with him recently, and I would hate for me to feel bored of him.

That's another aspect, if they're there for WAY too long, and I am not almost feeling the same spark seeing them all the time, I'll accept they need to go. Not in a bad way.
See, what happen in New Leaf, is that I had Carmen in my town FOR YEARS. And she would hardly ever leave FOR YEARS. I loved a lot of my villagers, but whenever I saw her, I just got bumped out. Because she was there for so long, I didn't feel any connection to her, and was just dying for her to leave.
In New Horizons, I almost had that feeling with Daisy, despite loving her. So when she wanted to move, I said sure, because I didn't want the Carmen scenerio to happen again~!

To have another Island/switch would be amazing, because I can try out new themes with different villagers. And when I do that, I have a better idea what other villagers I like, who I've never tried before~

(Still waiting for Diva to show herself on a villager hunt, but she hasnt yet!)

 

[August]

Since I only replace the ones I don't like, I'm gonna go for no.

I'm a little picky with who I actually want to live on my island uwu

 

[Seastar]

Yep, almost everyone on my island has been there for a long time... and now I don't want anyone to move away.

 

[Suguri]

Two days ago I used Kiki's amiibo card (a fake one I made using an NFC card) to replace one of my long-time residents, Gladys. I have been hesitant about doing that at first because she's my favorite ostrich villager, but once I it was done I didn't have any regrets. So for me, I think it depends on whether you're really attached to them or not.
Here's a screenshot I took when Gladys was packing up as a bonus:

 

[SkyKnight03]

I keep all of my original villagers, but everybody else is free to go or shown the door at my discretion.

 

[KittenNoir]

I find it extremely hard to replace a long time islander.

I still have my day one who is Buck. I also have my new leaf day one on my island still which is Ed.

These 2 islanders I can not replace at all and I refuse.

 

[Stalfie]

I had a hard time replacing Tabby but she was fugly compared to her replacement Rosie

 

[Aznoth]

I definitely have a hard time replacing my older villagers. Even though they're not the ones that I originally wanted, it's hard to say goodbye to someone you've interacted with so frequently over such a long period of time.

 

[Bulbadragon]

To some degree. I used to keep the same 10. But I've found that having rotating villagers keeps me interested in the game and is more fun for me. I do have 4 long term villagers I won't let move out though: Kiki, Pudge, Shino, and Raymond. The rest I plan to let move once I have their pictures.