@Background Pony #2AF3  
Granted, those tasks were done to help players get accustomed to the game, and their new town.

@Beau Skunky
 
He did. The next time you talked to him he would talk about updating the house followed by a yes/no response but saying “no” just had him laugh and take it as a joke. Then he updated your house and your debt was back.
 
This was changed in the newer games where you had to select the update from a menu.
 
There was also the part where you were forced to do tasks for him at first and could not buy from his store (which was the only one in the game) or sell things until the tasks were all done (they got rid of this in New Leaf).

@Background Pony #2AF3  
Well, he wouldn’t force you, and he wouldn’t care if you never payed him back, but if you want a bigger house for all your cool crap, you better pay.

@Beau Skunky
 
I actually prefer his old characterization. In the old games he would force you to constantly update your house and owe him money. Saying “No” would just cause him to laugh and treat it as a joke. They later changed this so a house update won’t start until you initiate it.
 
I remember a joke about him in a letter or something in the old games that said something like “Help! I’ve been made a slave of a raccoon!” Not exact wording but that was the gist of the letter.

Tom Nook needs more love, he’s not the “evil, greedy, shadey, loan-shark” everybody makes him out to be.