Lack of total control over your villagers can be a good thing... no?

[cornimer]

I completely agree! I got much more joy out of the older games when villagers would frequently move out at random, you couldn't control their houses, etc. It felt more real and gave the game a certain charm. I'd rather have livelier interactions with villagers than more design control, to me that's what makes the game so special.

 

[visibleghost]

i agree, too much control is more sad and weird than fun in my opinion. i almost feel like the fact that villagers must get permission to leave is a little too much, although it's great for gameplay and i love not having to worry about my favourite villagers moving when i'm taking a break from the game

 

[Foreverfox]

I wish I could decide if a villager could keep a gift from another villager. Bubbles gave me a gift to deliver to Raymond and it was a flower baby bear. NOT his style!

 

[sleepydreepy]

I agree with you, I like my villagers to be able to express themselves! I even let my villagers give each other those apology gifts, even if what's inside doesn't go with their aesthetics, I think the gesture is cute. If we were given the ability to redo our villager's homes, I would not do it because I like their homes the way they are

 

[Miss Misty]

I do like a certain amount of randomness and individuality on the villagers' part, but I wish they hadn't gotten rid of the option for the villagers to request a new piece of furniture from us. It's annoying that the only jobs give them ugly clothes and fish/bugs, and that you have to do so many for the Nook Miles achievement.

 

[Your Local Wild Child]

I do like a certain amount of randomness and individuality on the villagers' part, but I wish they hadn't gotten rid of the option for the villagers to request a new piece of furniture from us. It's annoying that the only jobs give them ugly clothes and fish/bugs, and that you have to do so many for the Nook Miles achievement.

Maybe I’m misremembering but I think the illness and missing item quests fulfill that mission. It’ll take longer but you won’t have to deal with critters/clothes on your villagers.

Honestly I don’t care all too much about originality on my villagers (though I don’t really trade villagers online so I don’t deal with it in the first place).

 

[Miss Misty]

Maybe I’m misremembering but I think the illness and missing item quests fulfill that mission. It’ll take longer but you won’t have to deal with critters/clothes on your villagers.

Honestly I don’t care all too much about originality on my villagers (though I don’t really trade villagers online so I don’t deal with it in the first place).

If that's true, then that's a relief (albeit in a way that slows things down; I get like one sick villager per month, if that. Does anyone know if the rate goes up during the fall and winter?).

I'm not too fussed about originality in the ones I want to keep, I just personally find fish tanks, bug cases, and mannequins wearing one clothing item unappealing. I'd rather have the opportunity to give them something that actually looks good.

 

[TheSillyPuppy]

In theory, I have no problem at all with villagers having their own free will, as they're living and sentient beings in the Animal Crossing world.

However, the problem lies in that there is no logic encoded to take into account their preferred colours and styles. I hate that I feel like a jerk for refusing to do a delivery request or catch a critter. Just half an hour ago, Agnes wanted me to deliver a gift to Judy... it was a yellow and green soccer-uniform top. That is one delivery that I refuse to do. I would understand if the developers didn't implement this mechanism for feasibility reasons (I don't think it would be very difficult to give each villager a pool of three clothing/furniture items, though...) and really hope this mechanism wasn't just overlooked by the developers.

 

[Tinkeringbell]

If that's true, then that's a relief (albeit in a way that slows things down; I get like one sick villager per month, if that. Does anyone know if the rate goes up during the fall and winter?).

I'm not too fussed about originality in the ones I want to keep, I just personally find fish tanks, bug cases, and mannequins wearing one clothing item unappealing. I'd rather have the opportunity to give them something that actually looks good.

It might! I hadn't had any sick villagers for a long time, and now Carrie and Alfonso both got sick in the same week

 

[Miss Misty]

In theory, I have no problem at all with villagers having their own free will, as they're living and sentient beings in the Animal Crossing world.

However, the problem lies in that there is no logic encoded to take into account their preferred colours and styles. I hate that I feel like a jerk for refusing to do a delivery request or catch a critter. Just half an hour ago, Agnes wanted me to deliver a gift to Judy... it was a yellow and green soccer-uniform top. That is one delivery that I refuse to do. I would understand if the developers didn't implement this mechanism for feasibility reasons (I don't think it would be very difficult to give each villager a pool of three clothing/furniture items, though...) and really hope this mechanism wasn't just overlooked by the developers.

I remember from previous installments, if they didn't like whatever they were given they'd give it to the player as the quest reward. Which... probably just RNG rather than logic, but it was still an option. Because now even if you tell them "I don't like that" they have a chance of wearing or displaying it anyway. It would make a lot of sense to give the villagers a significant chance of (kindly) rejecting a gift if it doesn't fit their style or favorite colors.

 

[TheSillyPuppy]

I remember from previous installments, if they didn't like whatever they were given they'd give it to the player as the quest reward. Which... probably just RNG rather than logic, but it was still an option. Because now even if you tell them "I don't like that" they have a chance of wearing or displaying it anyway. It would make a lot of sense to give the villagers a significant chance of (kindly) rejecting a gift if it doesn't fit their style or favorite colors.

That makes sense. I suppose it really depends on how the villager preferences data is stored and called... Anyways, I remember feeling really upset after doing a delivery (before the update where we could un-wrap the present to check what it was), picking the "I don't like that" option after learning what the present was, and the villager putting on the clothing anyway, lol. Personally, I don't see any value in the "I don't like that" option as it's currently implemented -- it might as well shouldn't exist. XD

 

[Miss Misty]

That makes sense. I suppose it really depends on how the villager preferences data is stored and called... Anyways, I remember feeling really upset after doing a delivery (before the update where we could un-wrap the present to check what it was), picking the "I don't like that" option after learning what the present was, and the villager putting on the clothing anyway, lol. Personally, I don't see any value in the "I don't like that" option as it's currently implemented -- it might as well shouldn't exist. XD

I do know preference data is available to be used when you give them gifts. Your friendship increases more if you give them something that's a color or style they like.

 

[TheSillyPuppy]

I do know preference data is available to be used when you give them gifts. Your friendship increases more if you give them something that's a color or style they like.

Yeah, I think that's why it bothers me so much that it's not used consistently across the different mechanisms. It might be just a shortcut the developers had to take, so hopefully, the delivery and buying stuff off your character mechanisms end up using the preference logic in the future. I'm not getting my hopes up, though, lol.

 

[marea]

I would love it so much if we had the option to decorate their houses. I loved redecorating my villagers houses in new leaf, it felt easier because they ask you to replace some things for them, and you could also buy their stuff during visits which hepled. It did not make me feel like my villagers lost their personality or anything like that but i understand not everyone likes it. I enjoyed doing it though, felt like another fun part of the game.

 

[Boccages]

I would not want more control. You already can totally decide who lives in your town if you have the amiibo cards, or a lot of patience and a lot of NMT. Having everything you want, at your whim, makes this an unlocked doll house. Animal Crossing is not an unlocked doll house.

 

[saucySheep]

i have enough control.... i guess. I just wish i could control their dialog so they wouldn't go quoting their neighbors

 

[Sheep Villager]

I kind of like the idea of customizing the interiors of villagers houses, but that's only because I loved Happy Home Designer and would love to see them incorporate it in to the game a tiny bit more.

I admit it does sound less satisfying than seeing the villagers just use items you gift them, so if they were to implement some sort of furnishing system I would still like there to be some limitations. Maybe you could only re-arrange stuff you've given them or they already had?

As far as making custom villagers goes... can't say I would enjoy that personally. It feels too intense for me and feels less natural.​

 

[LadyDestani]

I would love it so much if we had the option to decorate their houses. I loved redecorating my villagers houses in new leaf, it felt easier because they ask you to replace some things for them, and you could also buy their stuff during visits which hepled. It did not make me feel like my villagers lost their personality or anything like that but i understand not everyone likes it. I enjoyed doing it though, felt like another fun part of the game.

I did love this type of thing in New Leaf because it still felt natural. It was initiated by the villager, only involved one furniture item at a time, and didn't happen too frequently (at least not for me). So everything about it still made the villager seem real. I could picture a friend asking me how to replace a certain item they didn't like anymore or gifting me something they owned but thought I would love more.

When people talk about wanting full control over their villagers' houses, I picture something more like HHD where you design their entire home and I just wouldn't want that. It takes me out of the game. I get that everyone plays Animal Crossing differently and some people do love the game solely for the design aspect, but that's not me so if anything like that were ever implemented I'd want it to be optional.

 

[Le Ham]

I type this without reading the other replies first, but it seems to me a lot of folks are dissatisfied with how NH presents itself as opposed to older games, and this conflict makes control a problem/need where it didn't use to be.

Personally, I see my villagers as funny little creatures. Like squirrels or lizards or insects, you don't see them as friends really, you just like to watch them go about their silly lives, listen to their silly problems, with the added benefit of dressing them up. For me, Sprinkle in particular comes to mind for how often I've caught her doing things like spray watering my houseplants, playing instruments or snapping pictures of the sandcastle on the beach. It's like an ant farm, but cute and I can walk around in it. I'm still too soft to ever hit them with a net or do mean things to them, but I certainly don't think of them as company.

I don't mind their houses being unoriginal, but I do mind when they start replacing everything they own with clothing I gave them. This doesn't make me want more control over their house interiors so much as it makes me wish they would just never display clothing. Other than that, I'm pretty satisfied with the level of control I have over them.

 

[Sharksheep]

I do like a certain amount of randomness but some of my villager houses are cursed with 1x1 none category. I dread giving them bugs and fish to display because there's not really a chance for them to randomly gift it back to you so you can get rid of it.

I probably wouldn't care about the originally of the house if I could be invited over and ask to buy certain items like in the previous games.