Do you like the idea of villagers looking into your pockets just to take stuff from you?

[Introspective Onlooker]

Awesome thread! Love these posts where we discuss game mechanics and how they fit into AC, gives me a lot of inspiration and knowledge for what I should do in my game!

Personally, I think it can create some funny situations (especially if they would replace your item with a trash can or something) but I can see from the comments here that if not implemented properly it can result in a lot of frustration. So I reckon some things that would improve it would be:
1. Allow you to request the item back if you find that it has been stolen from you (but you have to find the villager that did it)
2. Related to finding them, only naughty or mischievous villagers steal, not everyone
3. Maybe have the villagers not choose really personal items

Hey, I'm glad to be a part of that inspiration. Wish we had more threads in this forum relating to what does and doesn't work in these games where the main selling point is interacting with NPCs, because I don't think the developers even think about these mechanics half the time before they incorporate them. It's always good to keep in mind that Animal Crossing has a collective amount of issues; some are added while others get fixed in subsequent sequels. I think any game inspired by Animal Crossing should learn from its shortcomings from each installment — maybe even build upon some of them to actually make sense within the context to what the game is about. The reason why I get a bit frustrated in these discussions because I know this series can be better than it is now.

 

[Xara]

i’ve never played the gamecube version, but i’m honestly glad that villagers being able to take stuff from your pockets without permission didn’t make it into the rest of the games lol. i’m always a bit annoyed whenever one of my villagers approaches me about selling/trading them something i have, but i’d rather that than them just snatching it from me. i cannot imagine having something rare/i like with me, only for one of my own damn villagers to rob me of it. my anger issues would have me plotting revenge lmao.

though, i’m honestly more concerned about how i’m able to fit certain things into my pockets... like a whole ass shark.

 

[CylieDanny]

Marshal always knows when I have a garbage bin, because hes always running up to get it ftom me (Why do you need so many bins Marshal)

So im kinda mixed about it. Because its entertaining, and random events can be fun. But also not a fan of loosing a useful item. Since you dont know what your getting return sometimes.

 

[returnofsaturn]

I actually loved this feature so much lol, I think it adds something. I don't want the game to feel totally like everybody is being nice-washed so I like a little bit of sass and mischief once in awhile.

 

[Introspective Onlooker]

I actually loved this feature so much lol, I think it adds something. I don't want the game to feel totally like everybody is being nice-washed so I like a little bit of sass and mischief once in awhile.

...What does that even? It's not even about being "nice" in the first place. And don't get me wrong, sass isn't a bad thing, but it seems pretty stupid to base a game around talking to characters, then have said NPCs just steal from you for no reason just for doing what the game encourages. It goes beyond just being mischievous, too.

I don't think people should feel the need to hide their stuff whenever they talk to a villager; it's tedious and the GC's pitiful storage made it even worse.

I don't see how it adds to anything, since it's not a "feature", it's a random interaction that can occur when you're carrying something that villagers might find valuable, but instead of making a compromise, they just snatch it from you. Didn't even make sense because it was mostly done by the ones who you didn't expect to rob you in the first place. The game didn't even bother to warn the player about this, so I'm glad it's gone. Would've been even more out of place in a game where you're in charge of a town and part of a government. Or a home provider representing a deserted island.

 

[returnofsaturn]

...What does that even? It's not even about being "nice" in the first place. And don't get me wrong, sass isn't a bad thing, but it seems pretty stupid to base a game around talking to characters, then have said NPCs just steal from you for no reason just for doing what the game encourages. It goes beyond just being mischievous, too.

I don't think people should feel the need to hide their stuff whenever they talk to a villager; it's tedious and the GC's pitiful storage made it even worse.

I don't see how it adds to anything, since it's not a "feature", it's a random interaction that can occur when you're carrying something that villagers might find valuable, but instead of making a compromise, they just snatch it from you. Didn't even make sense because it was mostly done by the ones who you didn't expect to rob you in the first place. The game didn't even bother to warn the player about this, so I'm glad it's gone. Would've been even more out of place in a game where you're in charge of a town and part of a government. Or a home provider representing a deserted island.

Yeah sorry, I didn't mean for that to look so condescending. I just happen to like the game having lots of random unpredictable things, even if I end up losing a great item lol. I think it adds some spice, and yea maybe it's annoying but that's part of the fun for me. And in terms of villager interactions (dialogue or otherwise), the games have definitely taken a more family-friendly gentler tone which is quite nice in it's own way but definitely feels lacking to me. In a game where nothing would go wrong, I'd be bored.

 

[Introspective Onlooker]

Yeah sorry, I didn't mean for that to look so condescending. I just happen to like the game having lots of random unpredictable things, even if I end up losing a great item lol. I think it adds some spice, and yea maybe it's annoying but that's part of the fun for me. And in terms of villager interactions (dialogue or otherwise), the games have definitely taken a more family-friendly gentler tone which is quite nice in it's own way but definitely feels lacking to me. In a game where nothing would go wrong, I'd be bored.

If it's any consolation, I don't think you were being condescending at all. I was just confused with how your post was worded. It's why I find Wild World's villagers to be more tolerable than their GC counterparts, despite there being lines in that game which were honestly just as harsh. WW was less in-your-face about how horribly villagers could treat you and they didn't try to screw you over at any given opportunity. I still find this writing to more often be annoying and incoherent, rather than funny; especially if it's from a villager who doesn't have any business insulting you when it contradicts what their personality establishes them to be as (it's why Peppies were among my least favorite in both games).

Again, I'm not entirely against villagers being rude, and I do understand why people would want this back, but it needs to be balanced and actually be concordant to certain characters, instead of every personality of a every villager holding the jerkass ball to varying degrees. It also shouldn't be villagers hurling insults at you, then trying to be friendly, as if they forgot how unpleasant they were being not too long ago. I'd love to eludicate more about the arguments people have had over villagers being "too nice" or villagers being "extremely unlikable", but I feel it'd just be another of @Onlooker's tangents on the dialogue of a game series with talking animals. Back to the OP:

As what was suggested here already, as much as I hated this, if villagers actually gave a legitimate reason to rob you (i.e. breaking stealing your net because you hit them too many times) and/or if they apologized and gave the thing they stole back to you, or even just hid it somewhere for you to find, I'll still think it was dumb, but I'll be less vehement about it.