I'm thinking about starting a new playthrough and part of me has always been interested in romancing Haley because I hear people rave about her character development but I always hit the bump that she starts off being so obnoxiously rude to you that I can't justify why my farmer would even bother. Can anyone sell me on her? Why would my character reasonably pursue a romance with her after that initial attitude?
You like shoes? She has three cubic acres of shoes and swims in them like a porpoise. All right, maybe not. Well, yes, she starts out as a spoiled brat, and the initial impression is not a good one. But let's assume, for a moment, that you can see that shallow-as-a-linoleum-spill exterior as a candy coating. There's more to Haley than meets the eye-- ever watch her out by the pond taking nature photos? For someone who claims to hate the outdoors, that's rather a telling bit of protests-too-much. Even from the start, Haley isn't bad; she's just the prom queen who's learning to adjust to life among the plebeians.
She's mean and rude. You could always approach it as a "woo her and dump her" revenge plot and then discover that "heart of gold" everyone seems to find who bothers with her. Personally, she'd be the last person I'd approach on any playthrough or real-life scenario. Being an entitled brat is essentially Roskii repellent (pro tip for all interested in keeping me very far away).
If you want to get Roskii to dislike you give him a SPOILED BRAT. He may not forgive you though. Honestly it's mostly the same for me which is why this annoys me. As said I hear good things about her and would like to do a playthrough romancing her but every time I try I just hit those first lines and just can't justify why my farmer would even bother (and usually end up going for Maru instead).
That made me chuckle xD And I only have one play right now, never been married in the game. Maru is definitely the strongest contender for my affection.
Without derailing the thread, there's at least four bachelors/bachelorettes who are initially hostile or coldly indifferent to your farmer-- Alex, Haley, Sebastian, and Shane. (Your mileage may vary on how you take those initial encounters.) Yet all of them have their fans as marriage candidates, of course.
I kinda feel the same way about Alex. He's not quite as abrasive as Haley (I think maybe his worst is commenting "Oh wow, your shoes are dirty" vs. Haley's "Eew, you're all dirty!" whining) I still have a hard time picturing my farmer (who is much more Sebastian, Leah, or Emily's type) being at all interested in him. But, much like me, my character will still be polite anyway, smile and nod, maybe say something nice, and then be on her merry way, maybe shaking her head at the audacity of whatever he just said. She's patient enough with them to put up with this until that rough exterior cracks and their more enduring qualities start to shine through, and then its less a matter of simply being polite, to being slightly interested in at least getting to know them, even if there's zero romantic interest. This goes for Shane as well, because he's pretty damn rude in the beginning too. Seb is a bit different. While he does come off as a bit aloof in the beginning, I read the introversion loud and clear and didn't really let his comments get to me. He's easily my favorite of all the marriage candidates and I've already married him on two of my three saves.
Yeah, I think Seb is a good guy. I never really read any hostility in him. In fact, in my brain, I'm the bridge for the widening gap between him and Maru. That missing ingredient that brings them closer. I also never really saw Alex as Hostile either, just extremely insecure. Shane's hostility I can understand as more directed at his life than the farmer. I wanted to like Haley, the mod I use made her a really cute cat. Her sister is hilarious and fun. I just talk to her and she openly insults me and I walk away thinking, "eh, nevermind."
I married Haley on my first playthrough. And I must say, she was a bit of a jerk at first. But then, as I got to know her, I saw deeper than her superficial personality. She's a girl who would love to be off travelling the world with her parents, but is stuck in the Valley. She may seem shallow, but she just loves things that help brighten up her world, like photography. She enjoys making things look nice, not so everyone will think she's awesome, but so that her life can just be that more enjoyable. And yet, everyone judges her on the fact that she seems too concerned with looks, which in the end, is what gives her that "spoiled brat" feel. However, she's a really nice girl if you can look through this layer. Anyway, that's my take on Haley. You may see her completely differently, but this is how she came across to me.
If you don't mind spoilers: She starts complaining about your shoes then say that she like of the smell of the grass because that reminds of you xD She's very sincere, honestly our character would be a lot dirt working in the farm everyday, something that we don't stop to think about, I bet that if you was lunching at a restaurant and someone dirt like this entered, it would catch a little of your attention, I don't see any harm in her words because it's the truth. She starts to read other books than magazines, donate her clothes to the poor, start to like to live in a small town (she have a better sense of community she says), but don't neglect her appearance. I can easily put her in the top of the female marriable candidates, followed by Maru and Leah (Aby would take the last spot and I don't saw all the events with Emily yet).
Getting Haley to ride a cow is worth the time and effort, very amusing cut scene. So far I have married all of the female candidates and three of the male (Sam, Sebi and Shane) and the only one I have been disappointed in is Penny. I would not suggest her if you have a lot of walls or fencing as she does not help on the farm. This may have changed in 1.1.
On my first playthrough I disliked her too and swore to never marry her. But when I decided on my second time to court her as an experiment, I was surprised. At first she will be annoying, but after some heart-gaining she get's different dialogues and her 8 heart event sold her for me. Now I always marry her and she repeatedly tells me/you that she enjoys family- and farmlife. The other candidates mostly have nice events that are just fun to watch. Some of them like Abigail and Penny want to live at your place for obvious reasons which aren't nescessary love. Leah might be the only other one with a real relationship development through events.
Gotta disagree on "Penny not helping". I've married Penny twice now (in both 1.07 and 1.1) and she is just as helpful as anyone else.
Well, only time when I married her was when I was playing as my "pirate" in the lake farm (Kind of awesome actually, the only thing that would have made it better would have been a boat instead of the inital house, I hope you're reading this ConcernedApe!) AND THE SCURVY SEA CAP'N TAKE WHATEVER LOVELY BOOTY HE SEES YARRRR!
I guess I don't form a relationship with someone in hopes that they change. However, I do see the merit of not totally discounting them and seeing them evolve on their own. This thread has consistently led to some solid chuckles xD
Well, if you want a RP reason why your farmer would woo Haley, you could always go with the story that your farmer is initially not interested in wooing anyone. He just moved in to his grandfather's old farm to start a new life for himself, romantic relationships was not on his agenda. But because he's the friendly type of person, he likes to go around and befriending people, even the more rude people. Then he sees Haley's more likable traits and falls for her.
That's interesting. In my first full play through I chose Penny as a spouse and all she would tell me was that she wished she could help out more but didn't know anything about farm work. That was back in March so I have no idea what version it was.
I find that most spouses have dialogues that may mix things up but their overall game-mechanics tend to run the same. Likely cause CA didn't want there to be any obviously superior spouses for gameplay purposes and just let folks marry based on preference rather than tactics. As for Haley, I tend to look at things from the game mechanic approach. Variety is the spice of life and SDV wouldn't really have the same charm in my opinion if every possible spouse felt like a personality carbon-copy of generic nice NPC townie #29. And in some cases that is nice because it means in the event of the more abrasive or agitating villagers there is a notable shift versus "cinnamon roll who stays cinnamon roll". Like there is an enjoyable element IMO seeing a character like Shane or Alex or Haley shift and evolve to their end-game attitudes because in a sense regardless of if you date/marry them or not...one could say your influence in their lives help them become better people themselves. A thing that they may not have been able to do on their own. Much like the town itself, your actions make folks in the town become better people...even if only because you help them have an opportunity to become that better person by being there for them. High heart Haley is rather sweet...because you as the farmer start her thinking about things outside of the little outlook on life she had at the start of the game. And in a sense I find that more rewarding than say Maru who stays sweet the entire game. Cause with Haley there's a sense of "I did dis. I helped a person become a better person."
You really do warm up to her. It takes a while, but to me, she shows more change and really puts effort into understand your life and to accept you as you are. I had planned on marrying anyone but her. After the cut scenes and talking, it made me wish someone in real life tried to connect to me like Hayley does. It's a sweet growth shorty. It's the hallmark marriage.
