Your thoughts on people "taking inspriation" from others?

[Loriii]

This is the reason why I'm never gonna be a fan of these ACNH fads such as Redd's Market, the castle, and forced-perspective to name a few. I mean, I admire and credit those people who initially thought about the ideas. They're great, but to copy the concept is just me pushing it to gain likes/recognition even if they don't really fit my island aesthetic. I'm not saying that this also applies to other people. They may have their own reason. Let people do what they wanna do. It's just not my style and it is just how I view it if I try to put these stuff and do it in my own island,. Oh, speaking of your own work. Have you ever been in a situation when you are proud of your work then you post it, but felt like you did not get enough credit and see other people taking credit for something much more simpler in comparison? It makes you feel like your work isn't good enough or probably worse, but then a few days/weeks later, you will see something from other's work that kind of look like they copied yours? Not entirely copied, but like TC said "tweak it, put a different furniture, you tweak it (lol). But hey, you know your style, right? It is only you or most likely the first person to notice it. What's worse is these people are taking credit for that idea lol. It sucks, right? How about seeing your friend joining the bandwagon while trying to criticize your work? Envy much? That's honestly childish and messed up. Anyway, what I want to say is that, if you admire someone's work and want to take inspiration from it then go ahead, let them know. I'm sure they will take that as a compliment and appreciate you being honest. Don't just sneak in and steal or rather, copy their work because you can't think of something. You're awesome and I'm sure your island looks amazing, so don't do it. And oh, one more thing. I'd probably feel jealous myself if it looks better than the original source, but well, I'm sorry I'm not impressed.

 

[Crash]

to me, "stealing" and "taking inspiration" are two entirely different things. stealing would be an exact copy of someone else's island with either no changes or very slight ones, and that kinda sucks. taking inspiration would be using a similar idea, but tweaked to their own preferences, and i think that's totally fine.

i try to be as original and unique as i can in my island design, but that doesn't mean i'm not going to incorporate any cool ideas i might've seen somewhere else into my island as well.

 

[AlyssaAC]

I always try my best to come up with my own ideas, and not copy anyone else. Sometimes it's more fun creating your own things rather than taking ideas off from others. I don't have too much creativity, but according to my mom, I do.

 

[Hobowire]

i dont mind. i mean if they can create a better setting then kudos. If the idea stems from me then I'll look at it and state its a great idea and work to improve mine. I like to grow with ppl. just my take.

 

[LilBabyDelirium]

The phrase is, "steal from the best and make it your own".

I've gotten some wonderful ideas from touring other people's islands, but a couple of things happened-- one, no one that I toured had the same theme as mine so most of what inspired me wouldn't fit with the aesthetic. If I really WANTED something like theirs, I was going to have to make it totally different; two, I did find ways to terraform that would fit better with areas of my map without copying anyone's ideas verbatim.

I guess I wonder what prompted this post? Did someone "steal" your idea? Were you yourself accused of "stealing"? Whatever it was, I'm sorry.

We have limited resources and access to items in this game so you're probably going to see repeating themes, but I would only be bothered if someone straight up copied my work. That said, how would I ever know? Unless they toured my island and then I went to theirs and saw it... I would probably be blissfully unaware.

 

[Xara]

i think getting inspiration from others is great as long as the design isn’t blatantly being copied. inspiration should not look like an exact replica of what inspired you - it should only give you ideas and a general design goal that you want to accomplish. i personally don’t seek inspiration from other people’s islands as i don’t like feeling as if i’ve stolen someone else’s idea. my island has a few areas that are on other people’s islands such as the carnival, fruit orchard and garden but i haven’t looked up any inspiration for those ideas - i just did what i thought would look nice as i wouldn’t want those areas to look like somebody else’s, y’know? ;;

 

[Toasties]

It depends on the idea I think? There are lots of ideas that are pretty common that players are going to use, whether it is setting up a small market or cafe area. So it's hard to have an island 100% original because so many people will have the same ideas as you. As for taking inspiration I think it's completely fine? At the end of the day it is your island and you decide what you want to do with it. I prefer to wing it and just do my own thing, but I have seen designs and really like the aesthetic which I'll sometimes use. I think calling it stealing is a little harsh unless they are copying it down to every single detail, that isn't what taking inspiration is. Plus players that struggle to come up with their own ideas may need that inspiration to help with ideas of their own.

I think it is the same with new artists taking inspiration from other artists. Inspiration might be the reason they started to draw in the first place. I prefer to think taking inspiration as a starting point rather than copying someone unless you actually are.

 

[Lavulin98]

I did have some areas ideas being stolen by friends and it honestly irked me but I never told them. I think animal crossing its one of those games that if it makes you happy, just go ahead and copy. its your own island, your time you invest to copy it and whatever.

It did happen to me to visit a completely copied island tho. I am sure there is a popular horror island where there is a wheelchair and gate at the entrance. Well, I stumbled upon a discord island while trading that looked identical. And I was just getting giddy that I was trading with that original island lol. I asked the person if they had a horror island *hint hint* and they said nah, they just thought some youtube island was neat and copied it.

 

[LilBabyDelirium]

I guess my fear is that someone will visit my island and say "oh that looks just like so-and-so's (insert spot here)" because I have done a lot to make it original. It's funny because I didn't know "cottagecore" or "fairycore" was a thing until pretty recently. I saw the words on the forum and then Googled it. I do see a lot of similarities between mine and those themes, but not because I'd researched beforehand.

I don't think it's impossible to believe that someone could have already liked an aesthetic without having seen it online. I didn't need someone else to tell me that star frags look great as decoration when dropped on the ground... but I see it on other islands and I don't flatter myself that I could have been the only person to think of it.

I love seeing all the ways people get creative with this game, even if some of those themes are repeated. I've yet to see exact copies of anything myself, though.

 

[Serabee]

I mean... imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. No one's making money or profiting from copying someone else's idea, they're just using it to enjoy their island more.

So, I personally don't see any problem. While I've never copied something exactly from someone's island, I've taken inspiration- when I said I was having trouble figuring out what to do with my rocky beach parts, someone mentioned they put a telescope and some star-themed stuff on theirs, I decided to do that with one of mine. Now, I still decided exactly what items to use, and how to place them, but the idea itself wasn't mine. But, again, why does that matter? Even if some copied my island exactly, I'd just be flattered. I worked hard on my island and I'd LOVE for people to be inspired by it!

I mean, the whole game has a sense of community to it. I don't know why we would want to limit that sense of community by getting possessive over ideas. Unless someone's claiming credit for having the idea when they didn't, why does it matter?

 

[AstralFirework]

If you wanted to keep your ideas your own, then in a game like this you kinda have to keep those ideas private. There's no other way you can keep a setup or a grouping of items uniquely your own. If you share them, they will likely disseminate across the internet.

 

[mayortiffany]

It's totally fair. There are only so many ideas out there in the world, after all; so long as someone is not outright copying another person's town and taking credit for that design as their own.

It's also tough to say who 'owns' a particular concept or idea for very broad themes like cottage core or yards for villagers.

I agree that there aren't that many distinct furniture types in the game, so most styles are going to start looking very similar as a result - we only have so much to work with, after all. Of course cottagecore/island themed islands are going to be popular vs. regal/sci-fi/horror... because we don't really have the items to make those kinds of islands feasibly work.

 

[cinch]

Literally noone except my boyfriend sees my island (and even he doesn't see it now that he's stopped playing), and i wouldn't charge anyone to come see my island (if people even do that). Why would it matter if i copied someone's island, or if they copied mine? It might bug me if someone came to my island, copied everything exactly, then uploaded a video of it on Youtube, claimed it as their own idea, and was making revenue off of it, but that's the only situation that's iffy to me. Still kinda a grey area though (i need a shrug emoji)

 

[Jhine7]

I don't have a problem with it at all. They can do whatever they want in my opinion, they paid for the game just like everyone else. And in 99% of cases, you'll probably never see their islands in full anyway.

 

[Hirisa]

Human beings literally learn through imitation at all stages of their lives and none of us here have probably done a truly original thing in our lives. As long as folks are explicitly giving credit to those they imitate, I don't see a problem, especially since it is the process of observing and emulating others that leads us to develop our own artistic voice. With effort, we don't only take inspiration, we offer it, as part of the creative cycle.

 

[Pyoopi]

Well, no one can own an idea. You can't claim the idea as your own, not until it's tangible. Ideas can't be protected.

Then, you're creating this idea through terraforming, decorating, etc within a game. Technically you don't own anything. You own the game physically, but the digital property is owned by Nintendo. That goes for any custom designs made, your flag, paths, and clothing is not your property.

So Nintendo could see your island and be like, I'm going to copy it exactly and claim it as Isabelle's official island. Nintendo can start selling plushies of your flag and claim full credit. There's nothing you can do.

The feeling of annoyance is understandable. I'm not trying to take away those feelings. You feel protective over your brainstorming. I'm the same way where I have a hard time looking at it as flattery. I don't think it's stealing though, I'm just a greedy turd.

 

[ThomasNLD]

I don't see any problem with it. It is the highest form of flattery even maybe. If it makes someone happier with how their town looks and makes you more enthusiastic for sinking more time in it to play, than thats a great thing.

 

[loveclove]

Your thoughts? Imo, its kinda like stealing to put it bluntly.

I'll disagree here. This is a game with extremely limited furniture options. So if they give everyone a bunch of playground items for example, everybody will think of doing those. Same thing with the Diner set and many others. So I would say it's hard to acuse people of stealing when the game pushes all of us in the same direction. How can you prove who started a trend?

That being said, that are things that can be copied, yes, but I believe like someone said above, that if the person posted the picture online to inspire others, there's not much to be done in that matter. Not everyone that plays the game is an extremely creative artist and is still allowed to have fun. The problem for me would only be presenting something like it's your idea when you know it's not

 

[sleepydreepy]

I think that "taking inspiration" from others is completely natural. If you look at art history, you will see that basically humans have been building ideas off each other for a long time, and this is how different art styles have evolved over the years. It is impossible to have a 100% "original" idea, because we as humans absorb information around us consciously or subconsciously and use this information to express ourselves. It's just how the brain works, and you can see an example of this in childhood when children are highly impressionable during the first few years of their life.

However I understand that stealing or copying ideas is hurtful to some people, but I feel like unfortunately its kind of unavoidable. Especially since there isn't a lot of furniture variety in this game, things start to look the same.

 

[Lurrdoc]

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. I stick to that and believe it through and through.