Just me that thinks villager popularity ranks aren’t totally correct?

[Barney]

Yeah, I think you're right. Ranking villagers is okay for people to do, I just got kind of annoyed about the results it's had on some other players. After reading what you said I feel a lot calmer about it, so thank you! I know I'd definitely prefer one over the other, I just kind of didn't get the fact that they're ranking them on design rather than personality which feels a bit strange to me personally! ^^ But as long as that's all they're ranking rather than how good a villager is (and even if they were) then I suppose that's fair enough! Thanks again, you've really helped me to see this in a more reasonable manner.

Also I love your villager choicess! <3

Happy I could help!

I agree that if some players are basing their choices on a villager's supposed 'popularity', that would be sad. The only villager I've let leave was Marshal - I had no idea about tiers when I found him on a mystery island - I just thought he looked kinda cool. Eventually me and my son who plays with me decided to let him go in favour of Octavian, as he's obsessed with octopi!

Part of the fun of this game is seeing different villagers on different islands and seeing how different people have different tastes. My friend has no idea about tier lists and she has some great villagers - Hans is a particular favourite of mine whenever I visit her island!

 

[loveclove]

There are definitely some underated villagers out there, the simple reason being they dont have a spotlight on them in the same way other villagers do, like raymond and marina! pekoe is gorgeous and i only came to know about her when a youtuber went island hopping and rejected her, im glad to have her on my island at least whew!

Pekoe even has the profile to be a S tier villager, she's so unique, it's really arbitrary

 

[Barney]

I don't like the concept of tier lists in a game like this but it certainly helps people who are looking to trade villagers. I'm kind of worried about sounding like a hypocrite though since I have quite a few 'high-ranking' villagers on my island

If you have those villagers because you like them / their design, then that's great. Maybe your tastes just align more closely with the majority than some others' do?

 

[bunn1es]

Omg I agree, like some of the villagers I genuinely feel sorry for lol. Some of the villagers you can’t even compare, some are cute, some are pretty, some are cool. They all have individuality and are all unique. It’s kind of hard to rank them

Goodness yess, me too. They really are all so different, and I don't know how people can even make those lists. I would find it so hard to choose my favourites since no villager is the same, and there's nothing really I can compare them on.

 

[Darcy94x]

I think this is one of the major reasons I don’t have a ‘dreamy’ list.. the only villager I want and want to keep is Sherb and that’s cause I’ve bonded with him since the very start of NH.. the only other strong feels I have for villagers is Goldie and Punchy.. apart from that I just don’t know. Also I miss gonzo so bad

 

[Sloom]

haha I actually sometimes wish tierlists didn't exist because then maybe my villager line-up would look a bit less basic ;;

but there is definitely a point to tierlists. cycling and villager trading is a very fun way to make in-game currency (or possibly tbt) using forums or trading sites! for villager traders it's extremely useful info and I also just find it generally interesting to see how villager popularity changes and evolves.

and saying they aren't totally correct is honestly just kinda wrong. some villagers are more popular than others and that's reflected in the tierlist. doesn't mean nobody likes them of course, but it just means they're not the most desired villagers by the community. because I'm a total loser, a lot of my favourites are mainly quite high tiered. it's not because they're popular that i like them though, I just have boring taste lol

 

[nerfeddude]

At the end of the day, every single villager deserves love and appreciation. Yeah, I myself have some quite popular residents, but I got them not because they're popular or desirable among other players. I got them because I really, really liked them.

 

[Blueskyy]

I agree that a lot of people, especially on YouTube, feel bad passing up sought after villagers because their chat explodes when they see villagers like Ankha or Bob. It’s really annoying. That’s why I respect streamers or players that pass up Raymond to hunt for someone like Clay. It’s not that I hate Raymond, it’s just it’s nice to see people find who they want and and not what others want.

 

[bunn1es]

Happy I could help! ☺

I agree that if some players are basing their choices on a villager's supposed 'popularity', that would be sad. The only villager I've let leave was Marshal - I had no idea about tiers when I found him on a mystery island - I just thought he looked kinda cool. Eventually me and my son who plays with me decided to let him go in favour of Octavian, as he's obsessed with octopi!

Part of the fun of this game is seeing different villagers on different islands and seeing how different people have different tastes. My friend has no idea about tier lists and she has some great villagers - Hans is a particular favourite of mine whenever I visit her island!

Same here!

It would be really sad, yeah. Unfortunately though that's how it seems to happen a lot of the time. Some of my favourite villagers like Stinky and Beardo are deemed really unpopular and often criticized by the community, but they're absolutely wonderful in their own ways. It certainly makes me happy to see that some people do also like them though! ^^
Marshal does like kinda cool yeah, and they seem like a great character! But I'm really glad you and your son got Octavian as well, they seem like a genuinely nice villager and octopi are very cool.

I can't afford New Horizons and don't have a switch, but I've got New Leaf and one of the best things about it - as you said - is seeing who everyone likes and what they like to do on their islands. All people have a unique playing style, and so it's actually really intersting and informative being on this forum! Also, Hans is wonderful villager, I'm really fond of them since in some ways they're really similar to Beardo who I mentioned before and I'm glad you've got them nearby!

 

[N a t]

I like the tier lists because I find them entertaining and I like to watch the changes on them periodically, but they never affect my villagers. Just because so-and-so is a tier one doesn't mean I like them or want them for my town. It is neat to see who people like and who people dislike. Considering there are groups dedicated to hating Hazel for example, I'm surprised that she isn't placed lower on the totem pole. I absolutely love her though. She's in my town now and will likely stay forever. Like I said, for me personally it's just interesting to view because often times the results are not what I expect, and because I don't do any research myself, I don't care much to debate them either. That's just my stand point though.

I'm mostly indifferent and just look at the lists for fun, but I do what makes me happy regardless of other people's feelings on villagers.

 

[UglyMonsterFace]

I never got villagers just because they were popular. But back in New Leaf, I really did love the popular villagers such as Fauna, Diana, etc. But I really did like how they looked! Julian was probably number 1 on a lot of lists but I never wanted him. And event when I completed my Amiibo card collection, I still didn't just invite every single popular villager. In fact, I invited Tabby and Mira, both also my faves, and neither are too popular, especially Tabby, who I think is the bottom of the barrel even.

I just don't believe tier lists are helpful except for people using them as a guide to price villagers tbh. The more popular one seems to be, the higher the price. As just a regular person that doesn't sell villagers, I don't care for tier lists at all.

Everyone hopefully can choose based off what they truly like rather than what they feel pressured to like

 

[BluePing]

This is true of AC villagers as well as other things... and even real people (celebrities are a good example).
Once someone is deemed "beautiful" or attractive, more people almost magically seem to think the same.
I like a good mix of the popular as well as not-so-popular villagers, personally.
There's really no right or wrong here. I, personally, wouldn't keep around villagers just as a "status" symbol because I'm far too old for that. But I can see how it could impact others, especially younger people, who might want to show off in a way with their popular villagers.
I just go for who I like and don't care about the ranking. But if I happen to like someone who is popular then I'm not going to change my mind about them just to come off as more unique.

Yeah I see what you mean about famous people, it’s exactly the same. Before I used to keep them as status but now I don’t understand this whole ranking, I much prefer the unique over popular now

 

[Wolfie]

Yeah I agree with you. I am biased in a sense where I usually like cuter villagers, but I try to go after ones I want because I want them, not just because they are popular. Like for instance, I know Raymond is popular, and I am sure he is great, but I don't really want him. I felt an urge to get him just because he's popular, but I realized there are other villagers I want more.

 

[Sharksheep]

There's a lot of nicer and average looking villager but you almost never see them. I think visiting other people islands and seeing who they have also influence who you want. Villagers with cool designs are popular and you see them more and more and you forget about the other 200.

 

[Barney]

What I find interesting about the tier lists is trying to work out what makes a character appeal to lots of people.

Some choices I can understand: I can see how a 'cute' character such as Fauna might appeal to more AC players than Gaston the rabbit with the huge moustache, although I'm sure he has plenty of fans (and I think he looks really cool!).

But then I look at a character such as Midge, who also ticks the 'cute' box, and see that she tends to rank much lower.

I find it fascinating, but can't quite fathom the logic of it, to be honest.

 

[BluePing]

Totally agree with you. Animal Crossing has 400 villagers, and we forget all of them just to get the popular ones. I'm tired of visiting islands and seeing the same villagers over and over again. I never bought a villager, neither did I do island hopping, I just decide if I like them or not when they arrive

Yeah I’m like that now, before I had a clear image of who I wanted like before I wanted Skye or Diana or other popular but now I see a villager I like and I’m like ooh, like vic is extremely unpopular literally ‘untiered’ but when I see vic i think he’s cool because he’s a freakin Viking and also his bright blue eyes are cute like before I wouldn’t have thought that, villager tiers really sway people’s opinions

Post automatically merged: Jun 3, 2020

What I find interesting about the tier lists is trying to work out what makes a character appeal to lots of people.

Some choices I can understand: I can see how a 'cute' character such as Fauna might appeal to more AC players than Gaston the rabbit with the huge moustache, although I'm sure he has plenty of fans (and I think he looks really cool!).

But then I look at a character such as Midge, who also ticks the 'cute' box, and see that she tends to rank much lower.

I find it fascinating, but can't quite fathom the logic of it, to be honest.

Me neither it’s so confusing, some villagers are super cute like ketchup is super underrated and some of the horses are super cute but because a lot of people don’t like the horse villagers, everyone else thinks the same and they become soooooo underrated and under appreciated it’s crazy

Post automatically merged: Jun 3, 2020

Happy I could help! ☺

I agree that if some players are basing their choices on a villager's supposed 'popularity', that would be sad. The only villager I've let leave was Marshal - I had no idea about tiers when I found him on a mystery island - I just thought he looked kinda cool. Eventually me and my son who plays with me decided to let him go in favour of Octavian, as he's obsessed with octopi!

Part of the fun of this game is seeing different villagers on different islands and seeing how different people have different tastes. My friend has no idea about tier lists and she has some great villagers - Hans is a particular favourite of mine whenever I visit her island!

I never used to like Hans now I think he’s really cute, I also quite like Boone

 

[Dando]

In my opinion, villager ranking isn’t exactly correct. Personally I have an issue whereby I see a villager that is popular that I think is nice and I want it, even if I like the look of a less popular villager more I seem to prefer to have a popular villager because they are popular. Recently I’ve been able to surpass this and just forget about the villager tier ranking as I’ve spent less time on the forums but I feel as though villagers are popular just because they are popular. Some of the villagers are rightfully popular but some are popular because others find them popular. Some lower tiered villagers are just as good as the high tier villagers they are just under appreciated as people (including me) sway toward the more popular villagers as soon as we join the forums. It’s like as soon as we see the popularity list we automatically like the popular villagers. I’m not sure if it’s just me that thinks it but is it me or is villager popularity not exactly accurate? Like streamers who stream villager hunting of popular villagers like Raymond, audie or Judy all day they’re only doing it because they’re popular hence increasing their popularity more, it’s confusing lol

Yeah, exactly, so once I saw Apollo on an island and I wanted to take him, because my friend said he is so popular and awesome. But personally, I don't see it. I mean, to me he looks like a very simple cranky villager. I do like that he is an eagle, but that's it.

Post automatically merged: Jun 6, 2020

I agree ^^ One of my favourite villagers is Beardo, he's so funny and so sweet to the player but really under-appreciated. I almost actually sold him because he wanted to move out and I had other villagers I wanted, then like you I snapped out of it. I don't really see the point of collecting popular villagers, you should just stick to the ones you like the most. And if they happen to be popular, so what?

Beardo is a real genleman!

Post automatically merged: Jun 6, 2020

They're correct, but as you pointed out, popularity polls are a self-fulfilling thing. they are popular so people see a lot of them, so a lot of people want them, so they are popular. but that is the case with anything. popular music, clothes, brands, ...
so a better measurement of actual popularity is how long they remain in the most popular list. because that tells us more about how fast the novelty wears off

Very interesting point!

Post automatically merged: Jun 6, 2020

I have 4 'D' or below tier sheep living on my island (Stella, example) and they're so sweet and cute. I wouldn't trade them for anything at this point~ the tier list always confused me in a game so heavily inspired on individual choice. Who you love is who's S+

The sheeps are THE best. I have Vesta and in the future I would like Stella, Baabara and maybe Curlos

 

[panda32510]

yes bc my girl pekoe should be A tier!!! she has all the makings of a popular villager (cute, unique design, awesome house exterior/interior, popular personality) and yet my baby sits at C tier?? the system is broken!!!

 

[trashpedia]

Tbh I don’t like like the idea of a tierlist because:

A) People feel guilty for passing over or not wanting a popular villager

B) When people have all of the popular villagers, they’re referred to as “basic”

Not only that, but a lot of them are kinda inaccurate. I highly doubt Raymond is as popular as many make him out to be due to how much people love to vocalize how much they hate him or how “(insert villager here) is so much better”.

 

[Manah]

It's a popularity ranking, not a quality one. Just like with everything ekse, some things are popular because they're good, some because people talk a lot about them, and some because people feel the need to like the same things as everyone else.