Why Bother With Popular Villager Hype?

[Zanessa]

While this may end up being more controversial than intended, I would like to ask people who have towns full of popular villagers, or dream to have their town full of popular villagers a question.

As you can see, the demand for villagers like Marshal, Stitches, Merengue, and Marina are ridiculously high. When I say high, I got 35 entries for my Marshal raffle. I've seen auctions go so high (because of no buyout) that the auctioneer has said "stop" because they cannot handle it. I've seen the greediness of some people when they want a villager - some people will send THREATS and BULLY people because they won an auction, or they'll be a crybaby and whine about it and share their sob story about how badly they want the villager. I've seen people who have lost RAFFLES get upset over it. It's a random name or number generator. You can't control what it picks.

So, can I ask WHY some people want to get involved in this hype? I'm asking the people who want five or six, or more, villagers in their town who are extremely popular. I understand just one or two, I'd like to actually live with Octavian (and he's not even that popular) for a few months just to see what it's like to have him. But.. to have a town full of them?

Please understand that I am not trying to start a fight. "Why do you care about why other people want popular villagers?? It's their game!!!!1" (The 1 is intended). In this case, that argument is invalid because I'm not saying that people should change their ways. I'm asking why people would go through all of this for a specific villager. (I also don't want to hear about how ugly every other villager is, because it's not true.)

Tl;dr - Why bother going through the popular villager hype just to get villagers like Marshal, Marina, Merengue, or Stitches?

[is prepared for long responses]

 

[Princess Weeb]

Some of these villagers I expected to hate, but for Marshal, I kinda fell in love with him just as I'd promised to give him away.

A few didn't live up to the expectations I had. I found Marina, Lolly and Merengue really boring to be honest. Genji too. I think people just go "Oh, that villager is cute, I must have them!" Before actually meeting them.

It just results in ridiculous situations where they finally get a dreamie, end up disliking them, and sell them off. It's so unfair. I think you can only really make a solid judgement on a villager when you've actually met them properly. There are a few villagers that aren't so popular that I really quite like, but not enough for them to be dreamies, to be honest.

 

[Pathetic]

I 100% agree. For the Tl;dr, some people are desperate for animals in a game, I get if your going to cry about pixels, that's fine and I will NOT judge you (Only if its for like a villager moved away that had some kind of connection or value to your life.), however, crying/getting upset about auctions on animals are just ridiculous.

DO if you don't get someone in an auction: "Aw darn, well I'll get him next time maybe! Congrats to [name!]"
DO NOT do this: "UGH! IM SO MAD!11111111!!! I CNT ******8 BRELVES THIS GHGHG!11 I HATE YUU!1!"

Please, people, do not get angry over popular villagers, yes, we know that they are hard to find but just keep looking.

 

[JellyBeans]

I'm not one of those people who want loads, but I can guess that it's cause they're cute I guess.

 

[Saranghae]

People get upset because they forget that it's not real life lol. But anyway, there are a few popular ones that I would like to have but not because they're popular.

 

[Bear_Crossing]

I only have one real popular villager in my town - Tia. She's the only one I plan to have, now. But I do want Diana.
I used to love Merengue, which I still sort of do, but it gets boring with the same villagers + I had 4 populars in my town and it was a bit much, I'm not sure why, I just didn't like having so many popular villagers in my town. I won raffles or got them off of giveaways.
I really have never experienced going through so much to get a villager, so I can't say for myself, but maybe others think the popular villagers are 'cute' and want them in their town? Or they just want a town full of populars to talk about? I don't know.
Personally, I think there are so many more cuter villagers that are un-popular.
But I'm speaking from my point of view. I don't know why people pay millions of bells. Literally, in the 30 million range.

 

[Wynter]

Honestly, I don't care about the popularity list, but because you can literally define a villager as cute or straight up not appealing to look at, everyone is going to be looking for the same villagers. I had Marshal in my old town before me or any of my friends even knew this forum existed, or a popularity list for that matter. They were all jealous of me for having him. And about you saying something about ugly villagers, I'd rather have a Fang in my town than a Truffles.

I have my own popularity list and it looks a lot like the one on this site, just because of the way some villagers are designed. Merengue and Marina are at the bottom of my list because I don't like the way they look, but Marshal, Fang, Kid Cat, etc are on the top because I just think they look cute and funny.

 

[Chessa]

I go with villagers I want and yes, most people want them but I want them because they are cute and if they weren't popular I would have wanted them too.
In my first town I had Marsha and Marina, popular still I didn't want them because I just didn't like them. I got in auctions too but I would never threaten someone who won, I just congratulate them and move on. It's still a game and people who cry when they don't win or bully others who DO win.......ehhhmm I just don't have words for that

 

[Gizmodo]

I only have two in my wishlist who are uber: Stitches and Marshal
Most of my dreamies are based on nostalgic reasons, those i have loved from previous games, such as Ozzie in the gamecube, Vesta in every animal crossing game i have played, Tangy the first i ever spoke to when i was 5 :') etc
Stitches was my best friend in wild world, and it was so frustrating him becoming uber popular and making it difficult to get him, when most people had just jumped on the bandwagon
Mira is one of the new villagers i want, and that is due to her looking like Sailor Venus.. and Sailor Venus was always my favourite anime character who i loved growing up..

Now with Marshall... i have loved him ever since June when i visited a town with him in (when he wasnt popular)
I really do not understand the people with IDENTICAL DREAMIES TO EVERYONE ELSE, literally a town of just Diana, Merengue, Marshal, Stitches, Marina, Ankha, a few more deer..
its just boring, and what do these villagers actually hold to these people :/?
Also a lot of people have just jumped onto the bandwagon, and as i said it has been annoying for people who have loved villagers from previous games who are now so popular its impossible to get

I can understanding wanting some new cool villagers, but surely there must be past ones you want and not just a full town of these ubers? and surely as a new player you want to experience all villagers, like i did in gamecube in my first experience, rather than just get the populars..

Vesta & Tangy will probably always be my fave 2... my best friends from gamecube and my first ever friends on AC
Vesta has been in every game i have ever had
Tangy i have never had since and its so hard to get her for NL

 

[Jennifer]

Marina has been one of my favorite villagers since she was introduced and was in both my CF and WW towns.

As for Merengue, I fell in love with her and Diana when I saw them and they immediately were on my OMGADORE list with Marina, Peanut, Cookie, and Maple.

Flurry reminded me a lot of Bijou who was my favorite character in Hamtaro and hamsters are adorable.

Finally, unicorns are awesome.

As for some of the others:
Stitches - Pretty much a walking teddy bear. I'd probably like him a lot more if his eyes weren't x's though.
Marshal - I honestly don't know where all his popularity comes from--but he reminds me of Gil from Tree of Tranquility/Animal Parade:

^So if I ever got Marshal, it'd be because I married Gil in both of those HM games.

Anyway, people are drawn to what they like and love and if they love it enough, what they have to go through for it isn't a big deal. I just get frustrated by people who want villagers just because they are rare/expensive. Too many people like things just because of rarity and it kind of kicks those who truly love for what it is--not what it's worth.

 

[Cou]

As for myself, I just think they're really cute. And I go for cute things and what would fit or look good in my town. I am trying to make a fairy-tale themed town and I think most of the popular villagers would actually spice it up a little. Some I got by pure luck or they just came to me, so I just never let go. The only actual popular villager I sought out for were Rosie, Kabuki, and Marshal. Merengue, Ankha, Julian, and Erik (he was my first dreamie before even knowing he was kind of? popular), just came to me via trades/giveaways. And I just grew to like them and it really is hard for me to part with them. This is my first animal crossing game and I didn't know the other villagers before I got my villagers right now so I had no idea who else I would want for my town. I got them like the first two weeks I started playing, then I just got so attached to them. I actually don't like myself for hogging a lot of popular villagers, I hope I had given other villagers a chance before I got my current ones ToT

 

[faerie]

I've never bothered with the hype, I don't care who is popular or not, all I care about is who I like, and would like to have in my town. Most recently I now have a second town and I'm going for a "Sleeping Beauty" theme town which puts me right smack into needing forest creatures which brings me to Marshal. I like to have all personalities in my town and he seem to fit the theme the best imo of the smugs so I have to fight the hype to get him hopefully someday.
I won Diana last night on another site and the other bidder was so angry they lost they wouldn't let it go. I hate drama and I felt really bad for the TC so I let him/her have Diana, it wasn't worth it to me, even though I genuinely won.
And with all this said I love Bill and always will idc how unpopular he is he's my buddy

 

[VioletsTown]

I actually did not know the villgers I wanted were popular until I started hunting for them. Then it was like, whoa, its a battlefield out there.

One thing I do find disheartening is the bullying I see on here. This forum more then others. No one should win an auction because 3 or 4 of your friends jump on and start bullying the top bidder. i have seen it a few times now.

 

[xxLollyxx]

In the main town I currently have Ankha, Lucky, Marshal, Lolly, Rosie, Wolfgang, Mitzi, Biskit, Lopez, and Kid Cat. My first ever dreamie was Biskit the lazy dog <3 it wasn't Marshal, Lucky, or even Lolly. He was my one dreamie, and I would totally give up anyone else in the village for him. The second dreamie was Mitzi. Wolfgang moved in on his own, and Kid Cat was a starter. Rosie I really wanted because I had her in City Folk and she was friends with Mitzi on there. I feel like the popular villager thing is a bandwagon thing. I didn't even know who Marshal was at first but I saw soooo many people whine over him and cry about him I wanted to get him for myself to see what all the fuss was about. I was looking for Marshal, and got him for free 2 days later off a cycling thread. I was happy and ended up really liking him. The same thing happened with Ankha, saw so many people crying about her over on ACC. I traded away my precious Coco for her. I still don't know if I made the right choice or not as I really like them both. Lucky I got because I thought he looked cool. Lolly I got because she's the only gray cat, and I have a gray cat and I like to pretend it's her lol. But it's just a bandwagon thing for the most I believe. I also had Stitches for a while because again sooo much fuss over him. Although Stitches was from my campsite. I traded him away a few days ago. Not his biggest fan :/ I don't like most of the popular villagers tbh. I don't like Merengue, not a rhino fan. I don't really like any of the octupi. I like that Julian is a unicorn...but he looks like he's wearing eyeshadow lol and I like my villagers to look like they have their eyes open. Everyone else...I can't remember who else is sought after. There are a few I understand why, and some that I don't understand why their so sought after, but I believe everyone feels that way

 

[Princess Weeb]

I've never bothered with the hype, I don't care who is popular or not, all I care about is who I like, and would like to have in my town. Most recently I now have a second town and I'm going for a "Sleeping Beauty" theme town which puts me right smack into needing forest creatures which brings me to Marshal. I like to have all personalities in my town and he seem to fit the theme the best imo of the smugs so I have to fight the hype to get him hopefully someday.
I won Diana last night on another site and the other bidder was so angry they lost they wouldn't let it go. I hate drama and I felt really bad for the TC so I let him/her have Diana, it wasn't worth it to me, even though I genuinely won.
And with all this said I love Bill and always will idc how unpopular he is he's my buddy

BILL <333
*yay*

 

[BellGreen]

I'm fine with it, but there are some really bad things people do for Marshal, Julian, etc. I'm glad I got both Julian and Stitches by random, I don't want to win them when there were rude things done to me. The only other popular villager I want is Merengue and she has gone down a bit.

- - - Post Merge - - -

BILL <333
*yay*

I had Bill in City Folk along with Dotty, Stitches... It was an amazing town, I hope I can get them again. There are some really good villagers out there but they just aren't well known enough. I totally didn't think Stitches was a girl in City Folk.

 

[Princess Weeb]

I had Bill in City Folk along with Dotty, Stitches... It was an amazing town, I hope I can get them again. There are some really good villagers out there but they just aren't well known enough. I totally didn't think Stitches was a girl in City Folk.

To this day, I'm still thinking Beau is a girl, ahah.
And I wanted Bill through every ac game I've ever had. I literally squealed everytime I saw him plodding around town in CF. He was the first dreamie I ever got too :3

 

[Gizmodo]

To this day, I'm still thinking Beau is a girl, ahah.
And I wanted Bill through every ac game I've ever had. I literally squealed everytime I saw him plodding around town in CF. He was the first dreamie I ever got too :3

Aww Bill is such a cool retro one, he was in my GC

 

[Zanessa]

WOW THIS BLEW UP FAST!
Thanks for the responses. I can understand some points.

 

[cIementine]

I think a few of the 'popular' villagers are adorable (mostly the deer and Marshal)
I guess no one cares about their popularity and the hype. For me it's about personality and cuteness.
On some occasions, I end up having popular villagers and I get bored of them.

I love Fauna because I just added her onto my dreamie list one day, when I was newer to the site, just by judging her sprite. When someone gave me her, I thought she was cute, and as normal is my favourite personality, she grew on me quickly. She came round my house every single day, and was always around me. Like a little deer friend. I was disheartened when she left and quickly reset. She is now in fostering as I reset again today. I think since recently my villager taste has changed.

Since O'Hare left I needed a new Smug. Zell didn't quite hit the target for me, although I loved him dearly. So I considered Marshal, and visited him in a dream town. His personality is amazing and he'd be a perfect companion. Let's hope he moves in soon, when I get my smug <3

Even though I no longer have him, I always smile when I see Anchovy when I reset or if someone here has him. He was an absolute sweetheart, who I had for six months as a starter in my first town <3 Same with Kiki and Opal :3

I think it's more about personality, soft spots, and nostalgia than popularity, bells, and hypes.