After playing a few sessions now, I think I like Monsterhearts when the move triggers are considered for even the subtlest of actions.
I love the way that MH sends a bunch of teens out into the uncertain world of trying to find acceptance, but not giving them the tools. Shutting someone down could be as simple as, “Nah, that’s stupid,” minimizing them, pretending you don’t know about Seth’s party; turning someone on could be as simple as a hair flip, or wearing that daring t-shirt.
While games like Burning Wheel excel at taking knock-down, drag ’em out physical or social conflicts and integrating them back into the fiction, MH seems about people who can’t help but hurt each other, often without realizing it.
It’s not all like that of course, there’s a definite role for malice, venom, for the excruciating flirt – but I think that waiting until the tension has been raised to the point where you can no longer ignore the move triggers misses out a whole world of private pain.
I think it’s fair and good to look for subtle triggers but I bear in mind also the player’s intent and the flow of the game. I often ask for moves when I think a scene has stalled, but I’m wary of interrupting the conversational flow as it can kill the roleplaying. I often fail at judging this. If a player gives a subtle action and says that the intent is to trigger to move then that’s great though.
I ran a weekly game for a year and still never got the right feel for when a move is made. I always found the wording on the triggers to be very fuzzy. Maybe that’s intentional? Gives the GM a lot of control over pacing, but also a heck of a lot of responsibility.