rubyrubert
Audie's Simp
I mean, with the limited number of things in the game, people are bound to be influenced by each other. Taking inspiration is inevitable and happens with all forms of creative design
Your thoughts on people "taking inspriation" from others?
- Thread starter HungryForCereal
- Start date
- Status
I try to be as original as I can with my island. But it's whatever if people take inspiration from others or not. It happens all the time with music, art, fashion, architecture, etc. It's how genres, styles, fads, art movements, etc. are created.
I do think people are selling themselves short when they see a screenshot and try to re-create it 100% instead of putting some creativity into it themselves. But I don't think it's wrong or that it's "stealing."
I do think people are selling themselves short when they see a screenshot and try to re-create it 100% instead of putting some creativity into it themselves. But I don't think it's wrong or that it's "stealing."
Underneath The Stars
거기 너 i fancy you
you see it, you like, you copy it, you tweak it.
you like my island? gee thanks just terraformed it
It's hard to be 100% original when there are only so many items in the game and so many of them obviously lend themselves to a particular locale.
Most people will have a beach area with a hammocks / loungers / palm trees / BBQs / a lifeguard chair / surfboards...because that's what the game gives us to work with.
It's not 'stealing' or 'copying' to use the items the game gives you.
If people post images of particular scenes from their island an someone recreates that exact layout, then I could see that being an issue, but even then I imagine most people see something they like and then create their own version of it that fits into their own island.
I saw an image from someone on here who'd created an area with each of the four train sets that they'd decorated with the little containers that look like trains and a custom railway pattern...it looked great!
I hadn't even realised we could get all four seasons yet, so set about collecting them and made my own area with them, omitting the other features as they didn't fit into the space I had or the the look I was going for.
I'm happy to say I took inspiration from someone else's design, but I don't see it as stealing or copying.
Most people will have a beach area with a hammocks / loungers / palm trees / BBQs / a lifeguard chair / surfboards...because that's what the game gives us to work with.
It's not 'stealing' or 'copying' to use the items the game gives you.
If people post images of particular scenes from their island an someone recreates that exact layout, then I could see that being an issue, but even then I imagine most people see something they like and then create their own version of it that fits into their own island.
I saw an image from someone on here who'd created an area with each of the four train sets that they'd decorated with the little containers that look like trains and a custom railway pattern...it looked great!
I hadn't even realised we could get all four seasons yet, so set about collecting them and made my own area with them, omitting the other features as they didn't fit into the space I had or the the look I was going for.
I'm happy to say I took inspiration from someone else's design, but I don't see it as stealing or copying.
Last edited:
Pintuition
Semi IA <3
I feel sometimes if people post pictures online of their beautiful islands online, I'm not sure why/how they could turn around and be mad that people create similar areas. Outright stealing designs/ideas might not be cool, but I've seen my fair share of things that have inspired me! Unfortunately the game gives us limited options to work with, it's very hard to be unique!
Personally, I love to share my island, the codes I use, and how I did certain things. As long as it helps someone else and they want to do something similar, I'm cool with it. I feel it's a very different thing than stealing art and stuff. It's almost like all being given the same coloring book page to start with and having all the resulting pictures be variants of the same. It's bound to happen!
Personally, I love to share my island, the codes I use, and how I did certain things. As long as it helps someone else and they want to do something similar, I'm cool with it. I feel it's a very different thing than stealing art and stuff. It's almost like all being given the same coloring book page to start with and having all the resulting pictures be variants of the same. It's bound to happen!
Your Local Wild Child
Matty the smarting-nosed “reindeer”
I have no problem with people taking inspiration from my layout: I let people tour sometimes and I have my patterns displayed in the gallery (you have to use the ID to view them all tho). I’m not fond of plagiarism in original content, but it’s not too much of a big deal in a video game (at least to me). Plus, my favorite part of my island is too disorganized to copy perfectly lol.
DeltaLoraine
Alwin from Riverstone
I don't see a problem with it as long as they say it wasn't their original idea when prompted by someone else.
All of my island is original except for one spot. I have a little Brewster Cafe stand on my island because I miss him, and whenever someone praises it, I always say I got the QR codes/idea online. It'll be replaced when Brewster actually joins officially. But for now, it makes me happy to see it and I'm in love with the outdoor cafe extension I added myself.
But of course, to each their own!
This is really just a moral discussion, which is a grey area, so everyone's opinion is valid in their own sense.
All of my island is original except for one spot. I have a little Brewster Cafe stand on my island because I miss him, and whenever someone praises it, I always say I got the QR codes/idea online. It'll be replaced when Brewster actually joins officially. But for now, it makes me happy to see it and I'm in love with the outdoor cafe extension I added myself.
But of course, to each their own!
This is really just a moral discussion, which is a grey area, so everyone's opinion is valid in their own sense.
I don't mind it. I'd take it as a compliment. It's not like it's the sort of thing that I will profit off of or something. Artists imitate each other, and that's sort of one of the most known and obvious facts of life. I don't see why gate-keeping a certain organization of pixels on a screen is a productive mentality to have. It's not going to be exactly the same. I hardly see anyone mimicking a town block by block. And if people are posting their pictures online to show off their design, I hardly think that they will care all too deeply if someone were to derive inspiration from the design they're clearly proud of. That doesn't make much sense. 
I do take a lot of inspiration from stuff I see on twitter and instagram, but I'm not just copy-and-pasting stuff I see online onto my island. I'm literally taking inspiration and I don't really see a problem with that, I guess? Honestly, even if someone were to make a carbon copy of someone else's island from photos online I think that would be perfectly fine as long as they don't try to pass it off as their own work online. What people do with their island is their own business only, some people are very creative and have no problem making beautiful things from scratch, others (like myself) need some help, and that's ok too.
patchworkbunny
Senior Member
Without seeing what the possibilities are within the game I probably wouldn't have bothered decorating much beyond getting to 5 stars. I don't see how any island can be unique considering we are all working with the same items. This isn't anyone's personal artwork, it's all assets owned by Nintendo (and custom designs shared for the actual reason of being used by others). I think all my areas are pretty common things that it's a bit harsh to say everyone who has done them is stealing (cafe, garden centre, beach area, bamboo garden, etc).
I don't really care. I just take it as a compliment tbh. At the end of the day, it's a game with a (very) limited predefined set of furniture so there's going to always be a natural overlap in a lot of work. Frankly, there are way more serious cases of art plagiarism and theft that should be getting the attention of your anger than this
DinoTown
Festive Fossil
There is no such thing as an Original Thought. Everything takes inspiration from something else. Harry Potter includes monsters that already existed. Lord of the Rings is based on Tolkien's experience in the army. Heck, evolution is literally just taking what already was there and making it a little better over and over.
Now if you consider these concepts - of which are unique, interesting, well-loved (at least the franchises are... but the third point is an entirely different conversation) and how they can't escape the "stealing ideas" or inspiration... imagine how hard it is for AC players, who have the same rules for designing an island, and spend a lot of time on social media where they see other people's islands.
There's nothing wrong with taking an idea - even a perfect copy. It's a game, there's no real way to copyright or anything. It's a complete and total butt move to claim the idea is your original idea when it isn't, sure, but taking it and using it is fine. Just... don't claim it as your own idea if it's not.
And the credit thing only applies to exact copied ideas, by the way. If you see someone who made a cute rainbow plank pattern on their ocean dock and decide to do something similar, maybe you only want pink and blue planks instead of a whole rainbow, you are under absolutely no obligation to go around saying "I got the idea from x person on Twitter" because you didn't take their whole idea, you made it your own, which makes it your idea. Unless you literally use something they created and build upon it to make it your own (using their QR codes for example), inspiration is fine and you don't need to created a paper trail of everything you've ever looked at and thought was cool.
Now if you consider these concepts - of which are unique, interesting, well-loved (at least the franchises are... but the third point is an entirely different conversation) and how they can't escape the "stealing ideas" or inspiration... imagine how hard it is for AC players, who have the same rules for designing an island, and spend a lot of time on social media where they see other people's islands.
There's nothing wrong with taking an idea - even a perfect copy. It's a game, there's no real way to copyright or anything. It's a complete and total butt move to claim the idea is your original idea when it isn't, sure, but taking it and using it is fine. Just... don't claim it as your own idea if it's not.
And the credit thing only applies to exact copied ideas, by the way. If you see someone who made a cute rainbow plank pattern on their ocean dock and decide to do something similar, maybe you only want pink and blue planks instead of a whole rainbow, you are under absolutely no obligation to go around saying "I got the idea from x person on Twitter" because you didn't take their whole idea, you made it your own, which makes it your idea. Unless you literally use something they created and build upon it to make it your own (using their QR codes for example), inspiration is fine and you don't need to created a paper trail of everything you've ever looked at and thought was cool.
thegunpowderincident
net light side shift
It doesn't really matter to me.. It's just decorating Animal Crossing islands. Not like someone's copying someone else's work and selling it for profit in any way.
Personally I don't seek out pictures of other people's islands, because I don't want to subconsciously copy it. But that's only because I want my island to be 100% 'mine', not because I think it's morally wrong.
Personally I don't seek out pictures of other people's islands, because I don't want to subconsciously copy it. But that's only because I want my island to be 100% 'mine', not because I think it's morally wrong.
Reginald Fairfield
Senior Member
Didn't someone on twitter get super pissed when someone else used the ironwood set? There are limited furniture choices.
DinoTown
Festive Fossil
I would love to see this Twitter post. There's something so funny to me about people who just do not understand how things work and this is a prime example.
Your Local Wild Child
Matty the smarting-nosed “reindeer”
I don’t have it but yea, these Twitter posts getting unreasonably upset about AC are kinda funny. The “Raymond is my comfort character” post sticks out in my mind.
I don't think copying and plagiarism are the same; plagiarism is trying to pass off someone else's work as your own, whereas copying is more of a reverse engineering. I would venture to say that in the process of taking inspiration from other islands, the original design is not what matters; the thinking behind the design does. For example, I tend to get stuck in ruts when I'm trying to be creative with my island, overthinking some things and under-thinking others. Sometimes looking at inspiration helps in that it reminds me of all the different assets I can use design an area and make it my own.
At the end of the day, every artist copies the artists they admire, and that's a good start to the creative process - even better if you can see the essence of the design and transform it to make it your own. I think if you are worried about your designs being "stolen", you might not want to share them, and you should also question if the designs are truly original to you or if you too have been inspired by others.
At the end of the day, every artist copies the artists they admire, and that's a good start to the creative process - even better if you can see the essence of the design and transform it to make it your own. I think if you are worried about your designs being "stolen", you might not want to share them, and you should also question if the designs are truly original to you or if you too have been inspired by others.
Marshmallows
chocoholic ☕🍫
I don't go out my way to "steal" ideas and I try to come up with my own, but if I see something I like I may do it my own way. It's almost impossible to not be influenced by the things you see and experience.... and that goes for everything.
I don't think it's bad. The only thing bad about it maybe is everyone doing the exact same thing, but if it's done in person's style, I don't see the harm. Often you see someone has an idea, someone else improves upon it, and someone else improves upon it even more or incorporates it into something else (like the forced perspective ideas.) The sharing of ideas is a good thing. Otherwise even using custom patterns is "stealing" and we'd all be limited by our own creativity. Building upon the creativity of others is okay.
If you don't want your work copied, don't post it.
I don't think it's bad. The only thing bad about it maybe is everyone doing the exact same thing, but if it's done in person's style, I don't see the harm. Often you see someone has an idea, someone else improves upon it, and someone else improves upon it even more or incorporates it into something else (like the forced perspective ideas.) The sharing of ideas is a good thing. Otherwise even using custom patterns is "stealing" and we'd all be limited by our own creativity. Building upon the creativity of others is okay.
If you don't want your work copied, don't post it.
Bluebellie
Senior Member
I don’t consider using pictures for inspiration especially not if you tweak it, a form of stealing.
Everyone has different island map designs no one has the same exact one, so it’s never an exact match. Also everyone has the same pool of items to choose from, so we are so very limited. If someone sees a nice playground area, and they want to incorporate the same idea, and they build a playground, I wouldn’t call that stealing.
That being said, there are other things I do consider stealing. I consider it stealing if someone specifically made the certain creation (for example a qr, pattern, etc) and someone says it was made by them (when it was not). Or when someone hacks someone else’s whole island design and doesn’t alter it at all and tries to play it off as theirs when it is not (this is really bothersome since this happened to me...it was sad).
Everyone has different island map designs no one has the same exact one, so it’s never an exact match. Also everyone has the same pool of items to choose from, so we are so very limited. If someone sees a nice playground area, and they want to incorporate the same idea, and they build a playground, I wouldn’t call that stealing.
That being said, there are other things I do consider stealing. I consider it stealing if someone specifically made the certain creation (for example a qr, pattern, etc) and someone says it was made by them (when it was not). Or when someone hacks someone else’s whole island design and doesn’t alter it at all and tries to play it off as theirs when it is not (this is really bothersome since this happened to me...it was sad).
Since this is preeeeetty much how all creativity works, I don't mind it at all (I've worked in a creative industry my entire adult life). Some people struggle a lot with their own creative expression. Maybe it's just hard for them, maybe they've never had the confidence, maybe they've never had a proper outlet to practice. Should they be negatively reinforced for creatively emulating something they admire or appreciate? Absolutely not. They should be encouraged to embrace that, to build upon it and try to find ways to make it their own. That attempt at creative expression should be fostered, not derided. All that said, it's also very important to give credit where credit is due.
This game is about building your own utopia. If you see something that fits into your vision for that, you should use it!
This game is about building your own utopia. If you see something that fits into your vision for that, you should use it!
- Status
Similar threads
