Strange sitting behavior?

[zarf]

When I enter a villager's house to give them a gift, they sit down.

When I'm landscaping and need free space, the villagers come over. And they sit down.

Hey, if they love sitting down so much then surely they would appreciate the benches you put out, right? Well they walk over to them, and then sit down... ON THE GROUND.

Do your villagers behave like this too? Are they just programmed to sit at the most frustrating times/places possible? And has anyone figured out a way to manipulate their sitting behavior yet?? It's driving me crazy!

 

[Flicky]

They definitely do like to sit wherever you're working. Last night, I was modifying a pathway my entrance, when Julian approached. Thought nothing of it, they always use this path to move across. Then he sat down next to me. No character had ever used this area to sit in before, until now. They've also sat around cliff areas that I'm trying to work on, and I've had to push against them to get them outta the way so that I can continue.

It's weird that they seemingly programmed the characters to actively approach you when you're busy terraforming. I would have thought it would make more sense for them to be coded to be less likely to approach you when you're working, in case they get in the way.

As for benches (and chairs), mine seem to have gotten better at actually using those now. Then again, I have a lot of custom paths on the floor, and I'm not sure if that's the reason or it's pure coincidence. I've seen a lot of screenshots of villagers sitting on the ground with the bench next to them.

 

[nightglow]

I noticed they sit in front of trees and hang around official paving. I'd place benches and chairs next to those things. I terraformed at night to hopefully avoid villagers sitting and blocking in my way.

 

[tiffanistarr]

Lol yes! They are notorious for not caring about you got going on, when they want to sit they sit. It’s just so fun when they sit down right where you’re about to dig or place something

 

[Nunnafinga]

I noticed they sit in front of trees and hang around official paving. I'd place benches and chairs next to those things. I terraformed at night to hopefully avoid villagers sitting and blocking in my way.

Yeah,I get this more than anything else.They like to sit in the middle of paths and roads.I have more problems with wandering NPCs like that fish beaver guy and the worst of the lot,that annoying camel.These NPCs like to hang around the parts of the island I happen to be working on and I have to push them away or dig holes around them so they'll stay in one place.

 

[Marshmallows]

Yes, the sitting mechanic is a little strange. Mine also like to sit on the path leading to Nook's... sometimes they'll use the benches, but rarely, and when they do they only stay about 30s. Just enough time for me to sit next to them, load up the camera app, and have them jump off the bench before I can a take a picture. It'd be nice of they stayed a little longer.

 

[zarf]

Thanks all for replying. I wrote this post last night when I was extremely annoyed... but I'm okay now. Still sucks that there doesn't seem to be a proper way around it. I also don't like landscaping at night because it's harder to tell if what I'm making looks good (imo).

Nobody else has commented on villagers sitting in their houses, but for me, some of my villagers will start walking towards their chairs/sofas as soon as I enter their home. I have to rush over and give them their gift before they sit down. Meanwhile I have one villager (Tutu) who will immediately just plop her furry butt down on the floor when I come in, so I have to leave and re-enter until she stops. The only time they don't do this is when they're crafting. I really wish you could just give villagers gifts even when they're sitting down.

As for benches (and chairs), mine seem to have gotten better at actually using those now. Then again, I have a lot of custom paths on the floor, and I'm not sure if that's the reason or it's pure coincidence. I've seen a lot of screenshots of villagers sitting on the ground with the bench next to them.

That's so nice!! I'm jealous ;w; Mine are exactly like in those screenshots. I don't think custom paths make a difference because my villagers will sit on them too. This is an old photo from last year and it's the worst cus I caught literally 2 (TWO) of them in the same area ignoring my benches. I've never felt more insulted lol

 

[Belle T]

They're programmed excessively to sit around or near water. I noticed this when I was terraforming and I put a 1x1 tile that was just water and villagers would just ignore absolutely everything to sit by it. It's really strange, and I can't at all begin to understand Nintendo's headspace when programming this behavior.

 

[Croconaw]

They do like to sit near water. Every time my villager sat down, it has always been near a body of water.

 

[zarf]

They're programmed excessively to sit around or near water. I noticed this when I was terraforming and I put a 1x1 tile that was just water and villagers would just ignore absolutely everything to sit by it. It's really strange, and I can't at all begin to understand Nintendo's headspace when programming this behavior.

OMG... a lot of things are starting to make sense now... I guess I'll have to surround every pool of water with fences?? This is ridiculous AAAA

 

[nageki]

if you're not opposed to TTing, set your time to about 4-5am and do all your terraforming then, doing this saved me a lot of grief lol. the earliest any villagers seem to wake up is about 5:30-6am for the normals.

hard agree with how frustrating it is for them to sit straight down as soon as you enter their house though lol. let me give you presents damn it!!!

 

[Belle T]

Seriously, though, look at this. It's ridiculous. None of you live here. A bunch of loiterers, these guys are.

(I also don't know why I used the screenshot function instead of taking the picture so don't ask me about that!!)

 

[Flicky]

That's so nice!! I'm jealous ;w; Mine are exactly like in those screenshots. I don't think custom paths make a difference because my villagers will sit on them too. This is an old photo from last year and it's the worst cus I caught literally 2 (TWO) of them in the same area ignoring my benches. I've never felt more insulted lol

I believe you're right, because shortly after I read this, Judy decided to plonk her butt on the custom path leading to my airport, so it must be a pure coincidence that they're using the benches now. Or maybe it's because most of my benches are on the beach? Either way, here's hoping they fix this in the next game. Your screenshot says it all

 

[Stella-Io]

Unrelated, I love the decor in the pic you shared with Tutu & Frett sitting RIGHT NEXT to the benches, very pretty area

Related, yes they will run their butts over to the river I'm destroying or the path I'm getting rid of to plop down in my way or on that last remaining tile I need to get rid of. With the houses, they have ran to a chair to sit in a few times. I have lots of benches around my islands, and they don't seem to use them all that much. With my new recent island, I put benches out by RS and they wouldn't sit on them for the first few days. After renovating that area and putting lots of furniture, patting and plants down, they finally sit on the benches. I think they only sit on stuff outside when you have constantly been by that area for multiple days. Tiffany did the same thing with one bench. I was running up and down one path for a couple of days, doing my usual thing, and one day she was sitting on a bench on that path.

 

[-Blue-]

I think the programming for villager's and sitting down is whack. If you turn on the terraforming app, they will deliberately show up to be in your way and or sit down. They also tend to sit down on path's I have created with terraforming and not anywhere where their is natural grass.

They needed to program the AI better. Something like 'If bench is within Y distance, villager will not sit down and use bench instead' People go to Reddit to share their photos/videos of villager's sitting down near a bench with a caption like 'so funny' but it's honestly more annoying than it is funny to me. It breaks me out of the immersion and it's like why did I even bother wasting all that time making a nicely decorated park with benches?