Is anyone else hoping we *won't* be the Mayor in AC Switch?

[Kiwi]

Wow, it has been a long, long time since I have posted on this board! But the recent announcement of a main Animal Crossing game for the Switch brought me right back to the bell tree! ^^

So... I saw a couple threads about what we hope for in the new Animal Crossing game coming to us in 2019, what we want to change, and what we want to stay the same... and that made me wonder...

Is anyone else other than me a little tired of being the mayor?

Now that doesn't mean I don't like the "power" that comes with it, and all the customization of the town that being mayor made possible! I wouldn't want *that* to change, and I'm hoping for many new public works projects and ways to make our villages more diverse, more interesting and more different from each other in the upcoming main title!

But... I kind of miss being just a regular citizen, with old Tortimer (or someone else?) in charge of everything.

I know it's really such a minor thing in terms of how it's affecting the game play, but it kind of just feels... different to be the official mayor who has his or her own office area in the town hall... as opposed to just being, well, some random kid who struggles to pay off their rent.
Atmosphere is such a big thing for me in Animal Crossing (as it is for most people if not everyone, I'm sure!) and comparing New Leaf to the other games I just prefer being a citizen over being the mayor, I just prefer the "vibe" that has I guess. I don't want to be the "leader" of my village with an assistant and everything, I just want to be one of the citizens. ^^;;

I don't really think they're going to change that, as I do agree that taking that power from us after how successful New Leaf was would be crazy... but I wonder if there could be ways to still give the players the ability to customize the town (and maybe customize it to an even larger degree than in NL!) without us having to be the mayor?
I mean, that way even the three other player characters who aren't mayor could finally chime in and build public work projects!
I can't think of any ways to make that happen myself right now, but maybe you guys have some ideas?

Again, I don't really think that feature is going to change since being mayor of your own little village is such a big part of what Animal Crossing is at this point, but I'm curious if anyone else here would actually prefer it the old way (the power to customize the town still being a thing though, of course)!
Or maybe you guys have completely new ideas of what our role could be? Let me know!

 

[Paperboy012305]

Well. smonikkims and I are a little fond over the rumor of the title for this game. Which is "Town Founder"

And if this is true, then we won't be a mayor anymore, Isabelle will take the mayor role and we'd instead become a town founder.

What that possibly means, is that we can do more on what a mayor cannot. Like design your own maps, choose where you want your villagers to live, etc.

If being a town founder is the next major gimmick of the series, then we will 100% sure not be the mayor of AC Switch.

 

[smonikkims]

I feel like NL did a great job of letting you feel like just a regular citizen whenever you wanted to. The animals wouldn't constantly be talking about you being mayor and would treat you as a friend and there was never any pressure to do any work if you didn't feel like it.

How would you feel if you sort of co-ran the town with an NPC, like if the official mayor NPC took you on as their deputy or apprentice or something unofficial like that?

- - - Post Merge - - -

I actually don't think that being the founder immediately makes you not able to be mayor, you could totally found the town and then build upon it as mayor afterwards. That may not be how it works irl but that's how I'd see it being the case in this game. Or not, but I consider it just a matter of semantics anyways.

 

[Kiwi]

I feel like NL did a great job of letting you feel like just a regular citizen whenever you wanted to. The animals wouldn't constantly be talking about you being mayor and would treat you as a friend and there was never any pressure to do any work if you didn't feel like it.

How would you feel if you sort of co-ran the town with an NPC, like if the official mayor NPC took you on as their deputy or apprentice or something unofficial like that?

You're right, NL did do a good job with it, I'm just being really nitpicky here! I admit it's really not a big deal, and I would be fine with us being the mayor again, but it's fun to think about other possibilities.

I think I would like what you suggested a little better, yeah! That actually just made me get an idea...

One scenario that I could imagine for a new game would be... getting on the train or bus or cab (or whatever means of transportation the new AC will provide) ... and meeting Rover, as per usual.

You know how there's a rumor that he's the one who was supposed to be mayor in our New Leaf towns instead of us? Since we obviously didn't really plan on becoming mayor, and we meet him on the train right before we arrive, he's the only one there, and then Isabelle tells us they were expecting the new mayor to arrive right that moment... While it's not confirmed, he's a plausible candidate for that role! Maybe poor Rover got cold feet right at the last second.

So my idea would be that we meet him, we have the usual "Oh hey, who are you, where are you going" talk, and then he actually gets off the train (or whatever) with us... and it turns out that he is actually the mayor of the village! Now that a couple years have passed he's ready to take on the responsibility after all! But he's having some difficulties... being a free spirit with a love for traveling at heart and all... and he could use a close friend to help him with decision making, and you just so happen to seem like such a friendly guy/gal, almost like he already knows you! ;P So he's the mayor, but you're his best buddy and able to influence him a lot, especially since you obviously have a knack for designing (homes, camps, whole villages... ). That would also give you the opportunity to take on different smaller careers instead (something I have seen a lot of AC fans talk about in threads about what they hope for in AC Switch).

Well, that scenario kind of just came to mind while thinking about your reply!

Thinking about it, I... don't know if I actually want that to happen, and I don't think it will. I guess it'd be a little... out of character for Rover? And I'm sure a lot of people really prefer being mayor, and the developers are surely aware of that.
In the end I want AC Switch to surprise me and do something I don't expect at all! ^^

 

[smonikkims]

That's sooooooo cute, but sadly I don't really see Rover becoming a main character! He's always been one of the side characters sadly and I don't think anyone has ever really been promoted from that role in the series! Usually if someone in a major role is getting replaced, it's by a new character. ;w; But the whole idea of that is adorable, so it would be neat if that happened but with a different character maybe!!

 

[Kiwi]

Thanks! Yeah, I agree, sadly that will probably remain a cute headcanon thingy. ^^; In a way it's nice for Rover to remain the mysterious traveling cat. I have always really liked him, maybe that's why I came up with this idea right away. I'm german, and in the german translation of Animal Crossing his name is Olli, which is my (nick)name too. So ever since being a little kid playing Animal Crossing Gamecube I've always felt kind of connected to him because of that. I'd love to help him manage the village. ^^

A completely new NPC filling that role would work as well though, and that would also be really cool! Maybe Rover wasn't the runaway-mayor from New Leaf after all, and we will get introduced to that character in the new AC?

All just wild speculations at this point, but that's the fun of getting to wait for a new game!

 

[ESkill]

Although if Rover became mayor he could be replaced by Katie for traveling cat/free spirit.

 

[Tinkalila]

I feel like it's possible that we won't be the mayor in this game. We could have some other kind of relevant role, or we could just be allowed to make public works projects with no explanations. I'd really love to find out who the mayor was supposed to be in New Leaf and have them be the mayor, but I don't think that'd happen.

 

[Flare]

The odds of not being a leader of any kind in the next game is low. Either we are mayor again or we have a higher or similar role. Removing mayor abilities would just make the game feel like a huge downgrade from New Leaf, which wouldn't make sense.

 

[Pansy]

I don't think we'll be a mayor in this game, but we'll be in a "position of power" if New Leaf and Pocket Camp are anything to go by. I think the only time we'll ever be a again regular citizen is if we make a side character, but I don't think anyone has ever "mained" their side characters because you kind of need the perks to being a mayor to really do much in the game.

 

[Mink777]

I think we will get a choice to be mayor or not. One option being to be mayor and the other to let Isabelle be mayor. There is also the possibility that we could have more jobs to choose from.

 

[thegunpowderincident]

I actually would rather not be mayor, but I wouldn't be too upset if we were again. I just prefer, in games like Animal Crossing, to be a regular ol' resident of the town, not in any special position.

 

[Alolan_Apples]

I would prefer not to. I like having mayoral features. But I would like the alts to manage something as well. In my Idea Book and in the revised ideas, I suggested that the alts can run their own businesses (like restaurants, arcades, movie theaters) and make money off of them. So while the mayor gets the town, the alts get their own businesses.

 

[Frisket]

I hope we aren't, but mostly cos i don't want increased customisation of my town. I think it would take a lot of the charm out of it, for me personally, if we had near total control of maps, villagers, etc. Animal Crossing, to me, is at it's best when I'm just living and experiencing it!

 

[Sweetley]

I don't have a problem if the player isn't be the mayor in the new game anymore, if Isabelle gets that
role or another nice NPC then I would be fine with this. Besides that, I really like the idea of this whole
town founder thing which got mentioned here in this thread. Like being the town founder who works
together with the mayor and you do your best to make your town the best one... Sounds cool to me.

Although if Rover became mayor he could be replaced by Katie for traveling cat/free spirit.

Never thought about that. Like, Katie met Rover and got inspired by him and so she decided to travel
around now and say hello to all the players that are new to a town. Maybe she is also older now or
her mother is with her. Sounds like a idea that could be possible.

 

[dizzy bone]

I want more mayoral power! In fact, I hope we get our own office in the new game LOL. Kinda like how we have our own desk in HHD, I want to have more interactive options for our position as mayor or town founder. Eg. The desk is where we go to decide where the next villager plots instead of it being random. I also like the idea of having jobs. Like how in HHD the villagers get to wear uniforms to work in the hotel, music hall etc. I wouldn?t mind different career options to expand the world a little and shake it up. All I know is with the new interior designing options brought by HHD and the furniture models from Pocket Camp, i?m expecting a lot more opportunities for our playable character to design the town without all the restrictions like in previous games.

 

[TheRealProcyon]

I liked the Mayor option, but it's not something that was done completely right. I think there will be big changes to the game again like every iteration brings. I hope for a different type of mayor option though.

 

[oath2order]

We will definitely be mayor.

 

[cornimer]

Yeah I'm kind of hoping we won't be mayor. I want something different, I feel like mayor should be exclusively New Leaf's thing. I'm fine with being a regular citizen or a different position of power

 

[MidnightAura]

I don’t want to be mayor. I much prefer the vibe from the first three games where I’m not the mayor.