Bothers me: Why would anybody marry Haley?

[Cthulhu]

I was just looking at another "Hey, let me marry So-and-so!" thread, and I realized that I haven't really seen anybody talk about strengthening the weakest candidate: Haley. Sure, she's pretty, and she has... uh, a hobby, at least? But honestly, she's so terrible to the player that I can't even see why you would put any effort into getting to know her. Alex also comes across as shallow, but at least he warms up quickly enough that you kinda want to get to know him a bit, at least. But Haley... unrelentingly rude, shallow, and utterly presents as unsuited for life on the farm. I don't think I've ever even gotten her event, 'cause I just never felt compelled to seek her out enough to get close. Actually, I was about at the point where I'd rather set her on fire than speak with her when she finally started talking to me like a human. A distasteful scrub person, but even that was an improvement.

Ahem. Point is, it would be awfully nice if making friends with her didn't feel like some kind of meta-game self-torture in the interest of completionism. Perhaps some dialogue updates are in order?

 

[Zen_the_Ogre]

Thinking about asking hailey to the flower dance

me thinking "the worse she can say is no"

Haily "Eww Gross"

 

[LRangerR]

Haily "Eww Gross"

Omg hahaha xD

@Cthulhu Everyone has their own reasons for doing things. There's quite a few people that like Haley. I agree that she's an awful person, at the start at least, but at least she can change over time. Unlike Clint.

 

[Salty1]

I think it depends heavily on the specific flavour texts you get, but I don't think low-heart level Haley differs vastly from low-heart level Alex. And the faster you speed through the low heart levels, the less you see of their shallow/rudeness, so that can also skew perspective. If there's any massive difference, I think it's that Alex actually apologizes in one of his events whereas Haley just waxes into greater degrees of thankfulness and gratitude. I think another part of her persona is she's less purposefully rude and more unintentionally, vapidly rude, but that's more up to interpretation and the line easily blurs.

I felt about the same way when I first started playing the game, and only thought of trying to romance Haley for the first time on a joja-run farm (felt like it made sense - her clothing scheme is pretty close to the joja blue and her materialism jives better with it than the other bachelorettes). I can spare you the bother and let you know that wife-Haley even kind of amidst to being useless and more Green Acres-y (offering to do dusting outside and contemplating that it's very important for the farm to be cute). Even when she's mellowed into a pleasant persona, she's still got the old vibes too. Divorced Haley is also interesting since she's one of the few that seems to imply (though not outright claim) some shared failure for the relationship whereas many other ex-spouses just dump the full brunt of their current unhappiness on your shoulders.

I consider Haley my favorite of the bachelorettes by just a smidge these days, but I still wouldn't go out of my way to defend her. She's just suited more to a certain nuance and I think that's fine - after all, that's the point of having multiple options/candidates.

 

[tomaO2]

Well, she's not my type, but my memory of her was more of a bluntly honest person, rather than someone just trying to hurt your feelings.

I personally prefer people that are rude rather than polite, as long as the rudeness is due to honest opinions.

As Cordelia from Buffy the Vampire Slayer said, "Tact is just not saying true stuff." Used to not like the character until I realized that she literally just spits out everything she is thinking in her head. I've been lied to waaaayyyyy to many times, either under the cover of being "polite", or because the person is tricking me. If someone genuinely thinks the idea of dating me is gross, than I'd rather ask why she thinks that, rather then getting mad about it and, if it's for a reason I don't care to change, accept it and move on. If someone hates me, I'd rather that person say so to my face, rather than skulking around and pretending to be my friend. Knowing where you stand with someone is something I value.

None of that applies to Stardew Valley, of course, because everyone is actually really nice, so you don't have to worry about what someone true opinion of you is, but I have respect for anyone that is bluntly honest, so I'm not going to hate Hailey for having this trait.

 

[Salty1]

I married Alex and never married any of female bachelors because i'm gay. Alex was a little rude before he married me, but after we got married he became super affectionate and kind. Is Haley still that bad after the wedding? I'm sad that she doesn't have any stories or anything interesting about her.

I'd say she is pretty comparable to Alex, but not the same. It's not quite the same scene with Alex's sports interest and his motives related to his mother (which really makes it easy to see how he'd be happy with a proper family), but I think it's fair to say she does become more empathic.

 

[tomaO2]

Witch Sammy, your character in the game is male, right? How did you like the story arc with George? I found a subreddit post and read people talking about how much they liked how George was initially uncomfortable with the male protagonist dating Alex but eventually warmed up to it, showing how he was able to grow from his prejudice.

 

[imnvs]

I married Alex and never married any of female bachelors because i'm gay. Alex was a little rude before he married me, but after we got married he became super affectionate and kind. Is Haley still that bad after the wedding? I'm sad that she doesn't have any stories or anything interesting about her.

She has stories and interesting things about her, just like every marriage candidate in the game. She's somewhat shallow and blunt, but she has a good heart and loves to have fun. I don't want to spoil things, but you need to see all of her heart events before you can make an informed judgment on her.

 

[Fat Link]

Well I don’t want to spoil anything for you but as you befriend Haley and eventually start to romance her she matures quite a bit as your character’s good influence seems to rub off on her.

I forget whether she’s your wife or officially your girlfriend at a certain point I want to tell you about without spoiling anything so all I will say is as you progress with her in your relationship she does some things for the town itself, Penny and the children that I found to be deeply moving.

 

[Dr. eeL]

In the two games that I have played, I married the sisters, Haley and Emily. If you are into collecting stuff and making money, marry Emily, who gives far better gifts. If you are into personal relationships, romance, and someone who is deeply invested in her farmer, marry Haley. Lots of girls make their initial judgements of people based on their clothes, and likely you first meet Haley all muddy from watering your plants and smelling of chicken manure. Married Haley is perhaps one of the most wonderful personalities in all of Stardew Valley.

 

[imnvs]

I forget whether she’s your wife or officially your girlfriend at a certain point I want to tell you about without spoiling anything so all I will say is as you progress with her in your relationship she does some things for the town itself, Penny and the children that I found to be deeply moving.

I know what event you are talking about. It is definitely her 14-heart event, so you definitely don't want to spoil it.

 

[Cthulhu]

She has stories and interesting things about her, just like every marriage candidate in the game. She's somewhat shallow and blunt, but she has a good heart and loves to have fun. I don't want to spoil things, but you need to see all of her heart events before you can make an informed judgment on her.

I've seen the nicer side of Haley, too, and I don't unremittingly hate her. But just like in real life, I'd say, "Everybody has something worthwhile to offer. Something they're good at, an interesting story, some particular thing that makes them special and worth knowing. But there are some people I just can't stand to be around long enough to find out what that is." Why seek out somebody who seems to just want to be mean to you?

It just seems like a brutally masochistic way to start off a relationship, desperately serving up gifts to somebody whose response to your very existence is basically, "I tried to ignore you, but you smell so weird that I couldn't even do that. Gross." :P

 

[imnvs]

Why seek out somebody who seems to just want to be mean to you?

It just seems like a brutally masochistic way to start off a relationship.

Honestly? The way I make friends with her is by giving her wildflowers twice a week, and make extra sure to do so on her birthday in that first Spring. Sure, they're only liked gifts, but they're free, and then there's the birthday bonus on only the 14th day you've played? It doesn't take long at all for her to warm up to you, so it doesn't feel nearly so masochistic to me.

With Shane is the same at the start, but he quickly becomes kind and lovely with the player. I don't know why, i have the feeling that in the school haley was a bully, thats why i don't like her.

Now comparing her to Shane, in that they aren't the friendliest when you first meet them, is fair, and I agree that in my first play I was quite put off by her for much the same reasons... but then, after getting to know her, you can tell that there's really no way she was a bully, just casually dismissive of people she didn't understand. That meant that on subsequent playthroughs, like in the one where I married her, just by making sure to give her wildflowers often in that first Spring (as I said above), you can quickly get to the parts where you start seeing her true colors beneath the prom queen (almost mean girl) exterior that many of us will have a visceral reaction too.

 

[imnvs]

Oh, then i will give her a chance, after what you said she seems to be cool.

I've married about half the candidates in my various plays, and Haley is the one that always makes me feel the best and makes me laugh the most.

One of the best parts to marrying her is getting to see her like this often:

 

[PoppyForPenny]

Haley's 8 heart event is great and shows she'd be happy and fun to live with on your farm.

 

[rippytrippy]

maybe if you stopped being lazy and actually took the effort to get to know her, you'd see why.

Once you're better friends, she becomes a very compassionate and sweet person. Yes, she's a jerk at first. But that could be because of underlying emotional disorders or other things (even tho she's just an NPC...hehe.)

Married to her on my 2nd save file and I love the gal :/ best female candidate imo
edit: ok can i just say some of her heart events brought me to tears. she is so amazing. Makes my gay persona proud af.

also she and alex aren't very comparable... just saying

 

[ISSsloth]

Well I don’t want to spoil anything for you but as you befriend Haley and eventually start to romance her she matures quite a bit as your character’s good influence seems to rub off on her.

I forget whether she’s your wife or officially your girlfriend at a certain point I want to tell you about without spoiling anything so all I will say is as you progress with her in your relationship she does some things for the town itself, Penny and the children that I found to be deeply moving.

I believe you're referring to her 14 heart event, so after you're married to her.

 

[Odin]

Hey @rippytrippy! Let's not call anyone lazy for having a different view on an NPC or other aspect of the game.

 

[Cthulhu]

I've married about half the candidates in my various plays, and Haley is the one that always makes me feel the best and makes me laugh the most.

One of the best parts to marrying her is getting to see her like this often:
View attachment 4826

That's awesome! I think a big part of it is just random chance, what she happens to say to you when you talk with her at low heart-levels. I'm glad I gave her enough of a chance to at least be my friend; maybe in another life I'll get to know her even better.

 

[Salonpad]

Bad attitude but she cute so i call her babe