New Characters? Maybe..? Pls D:

I'd marry the hell out of Marlon. He's so mysterious and awesome and grizzled. I'll bet he's got slime fighting stories for days.

I agree though I'd love to have some more mature male marriage candidates, I've only ever married Harvey and Elliot and they're the only two I think I'll ever marry in my playthroughs.

 

Edit: WTH quote in quote post that won't let me fix it?

 

@MoonlitBrenya you cougar you! (Wait...I'm 42, is it fair to call someone just a year older a cougar?)

Regarding getting older characters datable, I like that idea too. (Hurry up and get Emily datable!!) While I know it's not intentional, Abby, Penny, Maru, Haley, Sebastian, Sam, and Alex all seem pretty young and almost too young to be marriage candidates. Leah, Elliot, and Harvey all live alone so they seem more *adult* than the others do. Abby, Sam, Sebastian, Alex, and Haley especially seem too young mentally. I don't want to date someone that uses a skateboard (teen), is obsessed about football and muscles (teen-like) is pretty darn shallow (teen) shuts himself away because he feels his stepdad doesn't understand him (teen) and does things that seem to be *I'm doing this to spite my dad* (teen)...

We older gamers want to date people closer to our age group!!

 

o.o i was looking at your post like .. hold on what? yeeeh it looks messed up lmao but yess, let me ellaborate somewhat on those i know best, i cant speak for all of them in detail though

Leah: she has a sense of responsebility, shes moved away from her previous life where she couldnt fulfill her dreams and wasnt happy with her relationship, to do something for herself and move on with her life. shes not easily swayed (i was married to leah in my first game so i have the most knowledge about her) as when her ex comes back and sees you and her together, she firmly turns them away. shes also a creative person who, while struggling financially, has drive and wants to something with her art and she works hard at it. i suggested to her that she should sell it online and she then does after a while and it goes well for her. shes then able to live off of her art comfortably whether you marry her or not. she loves nature and shes ressourceful in the sense that most of her meals were from foraging (at least from what i can tell in her dialog) and she doesnt let the financial troubles hinder her creativity and her will to live the way she wants to live. she doesnt let troubles get in the way of her happyness, she just works harder. i love that about her. she seems very strong psycologically as well, making choices that are best for her and not letting someone elses feelings or wants control her and the direction her life takes. once you actaually marry and have kids with her, she also talks about how much she enjoys being a parent pretty frequently. shes very supportive and understanding as well and shes easy to converse with, shes not dismissive or depressed, the baggage she brings is an ex she deals with swiftly. no downsides whatsoever tbh. + she also talks about how much she loves the farm life and shes caring, making sure you dont overwork yourself and stuff (tho idk if other spouses do the same thing)

Maru: shes intelligent and she has a strong sense of self, like leah shes creative (tho with robots as opposed to traditional art), she likes science and geeks out as she pleases. shes good at helping her family and she helps out at harveys clinic, which seems like a more responsible job than sweeping floors (yet another reason sam seems really young, in my country those jobs are given to below 18 years of age-workers). she seems social and sweet, she doesnt seem superficial and shes confident in who she is and what she does. shes helpful and doesnt act out just to spite others. she doesnt seem to care about her appearance as much as who she spends time with and her hobbies which i think is great.

Abigail: shes probably the most "teen"-like of the girls i think, shes fascinated by things the same way kids are (like asking if i have scarecrows. ..... its a scarecrow wth?), she gets irritated easily and seems like she doesnt want to do some things just for the sake of not doing them. personally i love that shes a gamer as i am also one xD but she seems semi-antisocial to me. i dont know that much about her so i dont want to be saying too much, but she does seem like she knows how to have a good time with the things she does enjoy, like gaming when she invites you to help her with a level. if you win she has a good reaction and its adorbs.

Penny: im on the fence about penny because i love how kind and considerate, responsible and care giving she is but at the same time she seems reaaallyyy introverted. she seems like she has a hard time small-talking, which i cant blame her for, i suck at it too, but shes quite awkward. at least in the beginning. shes so great with kids though and she mentions how special it is to be able to have an impact on someone elses life to the extent she impacts vincents and jas' lives. shes also very responsible and feels guilty easily if people get mad or irritated at her (mainly george) but then when they apologize shes very understanding and she doesnt hold grudges. when you have a conversation with her about getting older, shes very rational and has a positive outlook about it just being another part of life and not something to fear or dread, but to enjoy the journey. at least thats the feeling i got. and her petite frame is adorable xD at first i thought she was SUPER young, but from how she is personality wise, that perspective changed quickly. Except for the awks convos.

Haley: ... i hate her. BUT she seems like the kind of girl who wants to be taken care of and spoiled. it doesnt make her particularly ready for marriage but i think the aspect of wanting someone else to care for her and do nice things for her can also be interprited as a mature want and need for love and wanting to be someones (very well taken care of) other half and being the person on someone elses arm as they get public recognition but she gets him all to herself in their home and ownership of his heart and .. well money lmao. this is how i see her at least and its what i interprited from her thing for Alex too. he would fill her criterias on the surface but if you get to know alex better i think hes a sweet guy deep down whos too concerned with other peoples opinions of him and wanting them to be proud of him to the point he doesnt know what he truly wants for himself. though i also think haleys desire to be taken care of implies she would be the one to take care of the person shes with on a personal level, not financially but in a way where she can be the person they rely on exclusively. she seems like the type to get jealous easily as i could imagine her being quite possesive.

those are just sorta my views on the girls. i honestly couldnt write this much about the guys.. at least not in a positive light

 

But there are these kind of people in real world,too. Just take a look in a gym, there are so many men who are into their weight-lifting, protein shakes and such stuff. Tony Hawk isn`t a teen anymore.
I tend to avoid social groups, simply because I can`t stand the way most people treat each other. They are lying to their "friends", making fun of others to feel better and piss off people just because they feel like it.
Being rejected by your stepfather or stepmother is bad, because you feel left out. And without any possibility to escape this situation (not enough money to move out) this is horrible. I am glad that I love my stepfather and he loves me like we are actually daughter and father. It would break my heart, if he would reject me for a sibling. Because there was already a so-called father who rejected me. And I guess from this point of view it is reasonable how Sebasitan acts. Of course it isn`t the adult behavior you would expect of someone this age. But you also don`t expect a broken car to drive.

 

Yeah, I'm usually a lurker, so I'm not used to message boards. Probably hit a wrong button somewhere.

Thanks for giving more detail! I have to admit, I was mostly curious as to how anyone could describe Abigail and Hayley as "mature" with a straight face. (I love them as characters, but I cannot pretend blindness to their faults.) That's actually a really interesting thought in Hayley's case, that the desire to be taken care of might contribute to a happy marriage. I quite like her eight heart event. She's such a proud person, but she takes being humbled with unexpected humor and grace.

 

ooh yeah i do think Abigail is the most teen-like of the girls xD i kinda imagine her paired off with sebastian somewhere, and since i wrote this i had an event with her in a cemetary where she acts like a total teenager with her dad and i just cant with that situation. i do think shes very sweet but yeah i could never marry her. i might do penny at one point though, i wanna get her out of the damn trailer and move her into my awesome beautiful profitable farm also awesome waifu material in general. of the guys im either waiting for shane or marrying harvey i havent decided yet.

As for Haley, i have never even been above 1 heart with her cuz i usually avoid her. i really dislike how she speaks to people. but maybe i should get to know her and see who she is on a deeper level and not just the surface. i suppose you could say it was equally shallow for me to write her off so quickly

 

Haley certainly starts off all holier-than-thou (heck, she ignores you, she'll say *ugh you're all dirty*, and other stuff to make people dislike her). Once you get enough hearts she's not as shallow...but do you really want to go through a lot of Haley treating you like dirt to find out how deep she is? Still think she's the most shallow of all the eligible bachelorettes *waiting for Emily to be available*

 

ooh yeah thats true i suppose i do like emily too tho but i think my female favorite is leah

 

Honestly, though, almost all of the characters are a little rude and/or stereotypical until you get a heart or two with them. Hidden Depths is kind of a tradition in this genre; it's the game's way of rewarding your progression.

 

also quite true. mannn x.x i guess ill get to know her a little bit and stop being so judgemental

 

I find any of the older characters if made would also have to have VASTLY different hobbies if they want to convey the more mature feel. Video games, skateboarding, music, motorbikes... scrap that all and give them hobbies like... i dunno.... what do mature adults like anyways... cooking, landscaping, politics..... shuffleboard? Im 30 and i dont even know what adults are supposed to be like.
Though reading through stuff like this while playing the game reminds me of how pathetic and childish I must look to people around me. I wear pigtails, like to draw and play games.... good lord i must look like im 10 to everyone else

 

Well, they dont have to be in their 40s. those are all interests i would put on someone in their 40s. not 30s. i would understand if gus and lewis, clint and marlon etc had an interest in those things. pierre too. but everyone else who appears younger i slot to be around 25 or so. which would be ideal. but atm they all seem like theyre 18-20. and not just because of their hobbies. its their appearance as well as their dialogs and family relationships

 

I get that, but it seems like people WANT candidates in their 30s or 40s. all the ones that get the praise and the "i wish i could marry so and so" are the grizzled, established in their lives characters who have probably had a divorce at some point, possibly a few kids, a stable career instead of a part time job or hobby, and a much much less childish outlook on life. I mean, look at Harvey, the only male candidates who doesnt feel like a child. He has a full time career that takes up his whole week, he goes to work then goes to bed more often than not (like how society deems a proper adult should function), he has no childish hobbies or dreams, he has facial hair and tired eyes making him look to be in his 30s or 40s, and he is so even tempered i think you would actually have to TRY to get a rude response out of him and even then I dont know if he has any! Everyone loves him and uses him as the example by which other bachelors should be held to.
As soon as they start to develop a sense of wonder about the world or show an interest in something youthful, many characters are seen as immature no matter what their appearance.
It would also be a good idea for the character to live alone (living with family in a game is seen as immature even if it happens IRL due to financial issues), be very even tempered and polite (rude characters are seen as not worth the time or effort), and be visibly older than almost all the current candidates.

 

Oooh, good observation. Classic example: Linus. His remarks are emotionally direct in a way we associate with children. Though he's also good friends with the Wizard. So he's using a disguise--but it only reinforces what you point out: a sense of wonder, an odd, impromptu thought, is considered part of pre-adulthood in the game, so to do this is to be simple-minded or wear a mask. Which is one point I'd like to see contradicted in added dialog in 1.1. Sure, we get the mature, carefully hidden remarks by the various teenaged stereotypes if we get to know them in the game, but I'd like to see more spontaneity, and child-like (not childish) delight at life from at least some of the adults as you become their friend.

 

I could never slot harvey to be in his 40s o.o the way i see it, he is MAX 30-32. and i think the majority of the reason people wanna marry the much older villagers is because there are NO young people who are good options except maybe leah (in my personal opinion). everyone else acts like theyre 18-20. when the next step up from there is 10 years at the least, yeah ofc theyre gonna go older. cuz they have no choice of an inbetween. the only inbetweens i can think of are shane and emily and thankfully theyre being added as singles. and then there are the older generation that play this game in their late 30s to 40s and ofcourse i see how they would want some of the older characters too because why would they wanna date a kid? its weird and frankly sorta creepy. people want candidates that are adult. 25 and up. that is not what we currently have.

As for rude characters not being seen as worth the time and effort? not true lol. there is a MASSIVE backing of shane for one and he is both rude and dismissive. Theres a huge following for Haley too and shes both rude, dismissive AND shallow. im all in for shane too but haley, nah.

 

Well, to be fair, Harvey does have his plane thing, which is a childlike (if slightly old-fashioned) hobby.

Part of the appeal of Shane (who, I'm guessing, is the "older, grizzled" character you're referring to?), is that he's an adult who has apparently gone through some rough times, and is in the process of dealing with that. The age thing is really secondary, I think. He also has an interesting hobby. I don't really want to romance Emily, myself, but I do see the appeal; she's kind and cheerful and a little goofy. I wouldn't necessarily say that either of them is established yet.

I think everyone can agree that more variety in the marriage candidates would be welcome, and that the developer has been very kind to take that into account and add any options at all. I don't blame him for sticking to characters that already exist, and therefore will be a lot less work to implement. I don't think a lot of devs consider the older players when they make these types of games, though we are becoming more common. Maybe that will change with the sequel. I do sometimes wonder if our generation will be in our 80s, still huddled over our computers playing video games, and our children will take up politics and gardening as an act of rebellion. I'd be okay with that.

But, yeah, there is an anime aesthetic to the characters that makes it difficult to read their ages without obvious cues, like facial hair. Personally, I had no idea that Emily was considered an "older" character until I read the posts on this board.

 

ahahahah @ the imagery of us all being 80 and playing videogames and our kids running around like "OMFG GRANNY WILL YOU STOP, TRUMP HAS TAKEN OVER THE WORLD WE MUST DO SOMETHING, ALL YOU EVER DO IS SIT AT YOUR STUPID COMPUTER" xDD

As for emily, for me, she doesnt seem older per se, shes just a more mature option. but also the fact that her and haley are siblings from what i gather, so shes probably, hopefully, older than haley. i think thats what does it as well.

But yes, gamers are getting older as the generations move on, its normal to be gaming in your 30s or so now because thats the generation that learned to game a lot etc and passed it onto us. its only natural we would want older counter parts too esp in games where dating is an option.

 

*calls you all young whippersnappers* (I'm 42 and still like video games)

I suspect Emily is older than Haley for a few reasons: 1) Emily has a job, and apparently has had the job for quite awhile 2) Emily's interests are more in tune with something that's a bit older than 18-20. While dancing may be a sign of youth (or at least youthful) she takes her job seriously and realizes *it pays the bills*. Most 21 year olds don't realize that...

I don't get all the love for Shane, honestly. (See my thread on Why Shane??) HOWEVER, another game I play says *you must learn what is behind the mask...* so while Shane is rude, dismissive, and unfriendly at first, a lot of people seem to understand *Shane is this way because Joja has soured him*.

I'm not sure how feasible this would be, but in Harvest Moon, Back to Nature there was someone who came by for Summer and that was it. Rest of the year, he was unavailable. Maybe have a few people like that, where they visit for a season and the rest of the year they are unavailable. Not sure how hard that would be to code and implement though...

 

While I got the impression the farmer is supposed to probably reflect the player...I have a hard time not thinking the farmer is someone who is in at least their mid to late twenties if only because the whole shindig with grandpa is all "Open this when life has gotten you so bleak and down that you are two steps from jumping off a bridge" and so the idea of someone who is like "I'm twenty and the corporate grind has worn me down ya'll!" just makes me giggle at the notion. But I also realize that is my personal mindset.

When I played the game I was initially under the impression most of the characters were like fresh out of high school and in that 'legal enough to not be arrested for dating them' adult so I was surprised to find out all of them were at least in their young twenties. As for Haley, it was an interesting time since I think like her and Abigail like swapped places as I went along to finding out more about them. Basically I started the game thinking I'd be all a big fan of Abigail and dislike Haley after I just met them...but by the time I reached their 8 heart things I found myself liking Haley a lot more as a person where as I found myself more annoyed with Abigail and finding her the most immature. Same thing happened with Sam and Alex where I thought I'd really like Sam and was put off by Alex being a bit of a jerk...only to find Alex ended up with a lot more depth to him where as I still feel Sam is full of the 'omg he's young and dumb run awaaay until he's lived actual life ;A;"

I can't deny I fell for the 'tried to woo Shane only to find out he wasn't romancable (yet)"