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?
Let’s be honest: I think a big reason Haley is popular is that her arc gives players the fantasy of “fixing” an unlikeable character, similar to the appeal Shane and Sebastian have for some fans.
My issue with Haley isn’t simply that she starts off rude. Stardew has plenty of abrasive or troubled characters. The issue is that her route asks me to tolerate a lot of disrespect before giving me a reason to care.
The moment that really kills the romance for me is when she casually admits to wasting crops from Pierre’s. That bothers me more than her insults about clothes or appearance, because it directly disrespects the farmer’s work. Farming is the player’s entire life in this game, and she treats it like garbage without much remorse.
That makes her eventual growth feel less earned to me. I understand why people like seeing her soften, but to me it comes off more like a sudden 180 than a natural progression. You spend so much of the route tracking her down and putting up with her insults that the payoff feels more like fantasy fulfillment than believable romance.
I don’t hate Haley fans or think people are wrong for liking her. I just don’t buy the romance. For me, Emily works much better because she actually seems to value Pelican Town, the farmer, and the life you’re building there. Haley, by contrast, always feels like someone who would rather be somewhere else.
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
That would be interesting if the game actually explored that... they don't.
Also... she and Alex are literally around each other all the time. Not sure I agree with the Alex part.
You can literally make that argument for every character that you brute force into liking you, why are we suddenly making exclusions for Haley?
