Thoughts on Villager Coordination?

[Lord Citron]

I've been thinking a lot about how people choose villagers for their island and why, as well as the overall villager trading culture.

For example, I have a very specific color theme for my island, which is orange, yellow and green. I have made sure that wherever possible, if there is color customization to make something one of those colors I will try to do so. This has ended up applying to my villagers as well. They are all shades of orange yellow and green. Is this weird? Twisted? When I told a friend who does not play animal crossing about this they called it an ethnostate >.<

I saw someone compare collecting villagers to collecting Pokémon, and while I mostly agree I still feel a little weird when I think about the fact that I have been waiting for Julian to move out for months because he's blue. I completely ignored him to encourage him to leave... and I know other people do a lot worse to villagers they don't want...

Which brings me to the more general question: How do you feel about Villager Hunting and the culture around it? How do you feel about people choosing villagers based on looks or species alone?

 

[Serabee]

TBH, I don't get the people who seem to be insulted by the concept of picking villager based on looks. I mean... there are hundreds of villagers and eight personalities. Even when combined with different hobbies, there still isn't a lot of variation in anything BESIDES appearance. They're not actual people, even if we can come to see them as friends, so there's no real risk of hurting any of their feelings. I mean, if you want to keep the first villagers you get and keep them forever and ever or move them out for other random ones, that's cool. But there's absolutely nothing wrong with having a certain aesthetic to your island that you're trying to keep. And yet I've seen some people suggest or flat out say it seems shallow... like, what? Nintendo gave us tons of villagers specifically SO we could pick our favorites!

Personally, I cycle villagers in and out regularly, but I try and keep some things in mind like- how a villager might look during a certain season, how their houses will work together, how many of certain species I may have on my island at a given time, etc.

 

[ivorystar]

I think it's great! I had an asian theme going on and now I'm working on a different theme.
Haters are going to hate.
Do what you want to do and ignore friends who don't understand you.
You'll have more fun.
Also post things you done on this forum. I get so much better support here than my real friends and family

 

[Raven_]

My island is pretty natural themed so I have lots of brown, orange colors (and purple flowers) so most of my villagers are either yellow like Hamlet or purple like Stella. I like picking villagers that way, though I have my favorites I always pick. There are only eight personalities and while the villagers have different hobbies and different lines depending on whether they are type a or b, they are pretty similair. I choose the ones that also appeal to me aesthetically because personality wise there aren't much differences

 

[Rosch]

One thing I really REALLY love about this game is the creative freedom. With amiibo, island hopping and adoption options, we are given much more liberty and it really helps players who have a specific vision for their islands.

You want a chicken-only island, go ahead. You want a jock-only island, do it. You should play for your own enjoyment, and not for others.

 

[KittenNoir]

I like the effort other players go to get islanders that match with their island themes but for me I just try get islanders that I think are cute

 

[.: Meri :.]

Honestly, I've always really liked towns/islands that had carefully coordinated villagers to match their theme. I've always just gone with my favorites, regardless of if they really "fit" or not. It's something I might do if extra islands were more affordable, though.

I don't see anything wrong with picking villagers based on their aesthetic or design—it's one of the major things that differentiate villagers. Even if I'm not matching my villagers to a certain theme, I still determine my favorites mostly by their design/species/house theme/etc. I feel like if the focus was meant to be on the villagers' individual character, we wouldn't have just eight personality types. And if every villager was a completely unique character, I feel like AC would be very different.
(Of course, I also like that players don't have to take this approach either; sometimes random move-ins can be fun and have made me grow fairly attached to villagers I'd otherwise overlook, so I see the appeal of the "letting anyone come and go" playstyle too.)

My motto for this sort of thing is that if someone buys a game, they get to play it however they like*. You can have a carefully planned island with hand-picked villagers or a laid-back, anyone-goes island or just flatten the whole thing and fill it with flowers so you can run circles through them over and over. It's your game, and I know it's easier said than done, but if anyone wants to give you flak for how you play, it's best to ignore them and just keep doing your thing.
*Obviously not referring to cheating situations that effect the game for other players or anything like that.

 

[Newbiemayor]

I don't really care about matching up my villagers tbh. I planned on having one of every personality (and two extras) and then picked my favorites mainly based on looks. I do think it's cool though when others have a theme going for their villagers.

 

[CrankyCupcake]

There are as many ways to play this game as there are players.

A sandbox game gives you the freedom of choice and that's a wonderful thing. You can decide who you want as your islanders, or you can even decide not to decide and let others choose for you. As long as you're having fun, it's good.

In my game, I invite anyone who catches my eye to come live on it. I don't even have "dreamies". My islanders will come and go because that's how I enjoy the game.

 

[Lord Citron]

wow thanks everyone who has replied!! I really appreciate all the earnest responses

Julian is in boxes today and I'm really excited to have a new villager in town. I haven't had a new villager in a long time and I don't want to go out and hunt for a specific one like I normally do.

at least I'm gonna do some mystery islands first to see if some random villager sparks my interest!!

overall having such a coordinated cast of villagers inside my very carefully curated island does make me happy, and I'm excited to mix it up a little as well hehe

 

[Moritz]

For my main island I like to have villagers I love.
I dont enjoy being restricted by theme.

But for my second island I have an orange theme.
All my villagers are orange or autumnal in nature (my island is called autumn so I'm counting them as on theme).
Its fun but I miss having freedom.

I think people should have whatever villagers they want.

I'm all for building bonds with villagers and seeing them as friends. But its important to remember that they aren't friends... because they're not real.

To me its crazy that anyone would have an issue with how others select villagers.

You do you

 

[arikins]

i choose based on exterior. my island borrows from traditional japanese aesthetics, so houses like pekoe, dobie, kabuki, etc.
even though i limit myself to a theme, im getting to know villagers ive never even seen before. i was villager hunting for possibly lily, since i love frogs, and came across croque. turns out his house fits exactly with my theme ! if it didnt, i never would have considered him. if i was going based on just looks, id feel so disconnected from my villagers. i like when things feel like theyre meant to be, my lil croque

Post automatically merged: Aug 7, 2021

i think what im trying to say is i like when people have themes, like you with ur colors. i feel like if we didnt have these set requirements for villagers that come in, we'd really just choose whos the cutest or most popular, but themes lets you meet new villagers

 

[xxcodexx]

i honestly dont care who my villagers are, what i Do care about is the color and style of their homes. say i want a village that has a specific color scheme and the first villagers that i get have black houses, or they have the cabin. not that i dont enjoy both of those houses, but if im going for say, a tropical theme then black colored houses and cabins just dont work lol! with tropical themes the pastels work along with the stucco? exterior *the smooth looking beach house one...i think stucco is the design, im too lazy to look it up right now lol*

 

[Croconaw]

I chose my current and permanent villagers based off color scheme and species. My villagers are Bones, Mac, Maddie, Bea, Goldie, Shep, Biskit, Butch, Kyle, and Chief. They are all either dogs or wolves, and have an orange-brown color scheme. I consider the two wolves to be the leaders of the pack. I’m very satisfied with my current set of villagers and I wouldn’t change them.

 

[maria110]

I usually coordinate my villagers to match a theme. Sometimes it's the villager themselves and more often, what their house looks like. Right now, I'm trying to have villagers on my main island who have earth-tone, autumny-looking houses, so I have Eloise and Pudge and Raymond all in a row. Henry and Kiki would also match nicely but I haven't invited them yet.

 

[Lord Citron]

Croconaw I love your villager selection!! all such good doggos (especially butch!!) and it's awesome to see how other people theme their villagers

you inspired me to make a list of my own in a similar fashion. Gruff is officially moved in today and he was the last missing piece to the green and orange puzzle!!