Your thoughts on people "taking inspriation" from others?

[michealsmells]

Its difficult to be 100% original with literally anything. Sometimes people get stuck and need ideas. Taking inspiration from things is important. "Copying" things, only to tweak them for yourself is part of human nature.

In art, for example: art styles are rarely ever purely original. Artists look at another's work and get inspired. They take bits and bobs from that artist; I like the way they do lineart, oh they colors they use are exquisite, they convey motion really well, etcetera. They do this with a few artists, whether consciously or not, and then finally create their own art style.
This art style will have things that remind them or others of other artists. But it will still be theirs. They still will do something that they arent doing, and that new thing is special and should be appreciated. I ALMOST FORGOT I was gonna say something abt how this is how art movements happened yadda yadda, got distracted. But ye.

As long as its not a 100% copy of the same exact ideas, and there's clear effort to make it your own thing, there isn't an issue with it.

On my island, fo' example, I just made a sort of forest-like, magical area for Judy's new house. I wouldve probably never, ever tried something like that if I didnt see others do similar. I'm much more of a "field of flowers" kinda player, if that makes sense. And hey! What I built looks beautiful and I'm genuinely proud of it!!

 

[AmyK]

You cannot “not copy” in a game that only offers you so many different options for everything, plain and simple.

Everything else was already said. I’m not gonna... Copy that.

 

[Etown20]

With creator codes being shareable, I think part of the spirit of the game is making something and allowing the community to use it.

If a person copies someone else's exact design and presents it as their own, then that would be problematic. If the person copying is not profiting or claiming ownership, I don't personally have an issue with it in this scenario.

 

[buny]

i personally don't care that much about it, if people want to copy what i've done on my island then that's fine? i mean, what part of it really is "original creation" when there's only a few items for each style and you just...place them in one way or another? It's not really our creations, it's Nintendo's designs. If someone copies something *exactly* then yeah they should probably not claim it as their own idea, but for taking inspiration..? i think people are being ridiculous with claiming ""aesthetics"" and stuff. Maybe i've just seen too much drama on twitter about it

but Animal Crossing is a video game, not the art industry, and at the end of the day everyone should play in whatever way makes them happy. I personally find joy in doing things my way, but if little Katie or little James want to copy something they thought was cute, then let little Katie and little James do what makes them happy, it's a game i think getting upset about this is kind of silly to me

 

[sleepydreepy]

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

I encourage you have more confidence in yourself and your creations. Social media has caused people to have this need to feel validated via likes and reblogs and if you don't get that validation, you automatically assume there must be something wrong with you/people don't like you, when this is rarely the case.
I would also encourage others to create your island for yourself to enjoy first, and not to become "famous" online, because you will get addicted to pleasing other people and never feel satisfied with your own self. Who cares if no one else "likes" your island??? If you like it that is all that matters, because ultimately its your island that you play in everyday on your own game that you paid money for.

 

[Loriii]

I encourage you have more confidence in yourself and your creations. Social media has caused people to have this need to feel validated via likes and reblogs and if you don't get that validation, you automatically assume there must be something wrong with you/people don't like you, when this is rarely the case.
I would also encourage others to create your island for yourself to enjoy first, and not to become "famous" online, because you will get addicted to pleasing other people and never feel satisfied with your own self. Who cares if no one else "likes" your island??? If you like it that is all that matters, because ultimately its your island that you play in everyday on your own game that you paid money for.

Nah. I'm confident of my work and I don't need reassurance of others. I also have the backing/support of my girlfriend and my daughter who both plays ACNH and they are the ones who always criticize me so I could improve what I need to improve. I posted it to share not to be popular. It's just so happen that I could probably make stuff faster than others then post it continually or I'm just proud of them, I guess. I don't think you get it. I'm not saying that every creation I posted were original in nature, like literally, okay I made a cafe. No one will think of making a cafe. Of course not, everyone will think of making a cafe in their island. What I wanted to say is the style how you make it and how you put and arrange the furniture in a such a way that makes the thing unique. I'm talking specifically about rooms. I don't want to mention names but for example, several days ago, I posted this laundry room using the Misty garden wall as wallpaper and Flowing-river as flooring and put stuff/clothes on walls..Then later on, I see someone posting a bathroom with the same combination of wallpaper and flooring then a clothing hanging on the wall. Also, the wall items they have used gives a feel that you see in my under the water bedroom? The poster said it took a while for her to design that. How about saying they must have come across one of my rooms in the other thread. The use of wallpaper and flooring gave that away (they're not a set). That's too much of a coincidence. I've never seen like that having the exact same combination as mine plus I have seen a lot of posts of different rooms created by people and one thing I have noticed is that they aren't that fond of putting stuff on walls so why this particular person did that, apart from the similarities I said earlier?

It's actually not just one person. I saw one earlier that really looks like one of my rooms but I felt like the person has been trying to give me credit so I should probably not mind that. The funny thing is, it seems like most people does not want me posting or showing off/sharing my rooms but then I see a few trying to imitate it lol how ironic. At this point, I don't care what people will think of me. I came here to share my creations as well as share my knowledge about how to get this stuff, villager, etc. but seems like I'm either getting hated or doubted for it. Again, I don't need reassurance. Just saying that if you want to copy the placement and stuff in my rooms, how about letting me know? I would take that as a big compliment.

 

[tajikey]

Imitation is the highest form of flattery.

 

[Ananas Dragon]

Nobody owns ideas in a virtual game?

 

[paleogamer11]

When it comes to taking inspiration, as long as the person doesn’t copy the original, then it is not considered stealing. I came up with the idea of having my island be a maze with different stops for the significant things on it. I saw a video in which a person visited an island that was basically a puzzle before getting to the main part of it, and that’s where I got my idea from. But instead of making it entirely that, I decided to make my land a big maze that would lead to the plaza as the finish line.

 

[DellaIthilien]

My creative ability is very low. I created dirt paths and lined them with flowers and thought I had the coolest island in the world. Then, I saw other islands and kind of had a moment of silence for how bad my island actually is. I like to look at other people's gorgeous islands and take some inspiration from them, like I moved my museum onto a raised hill with an incline, and then I saw someone who put two fossils and fountain in front of it, so I'm working on moving it to the back of my island where there's more room and doing something similar, because I would never have thought of something so cool on my own

 

[sleepydreepy]

snip

Ah ok. I suppose in regards to your post original post, I must have misinterpreted what I was reading.

Regarding your example of wallpaper/flooring combo- I stand by what I said in a separate post that "copying" furniture/layouts is unavoidable due to the game's limiting supply of items. Additionally I actually don't think those people you mentioned were copying you specifically, because I have often seen that combination used in people's houses for the past couple months. Specifically I've seen it used many times on a Japanese ACNH channel (here is a link to their channel - link ). I am not Japanese nor do I speak Japanese so I don't know what they say when they walk into a room with that wall/floor combo (I don't know if they credit someone else), but either way, I don't think that combo is uniquely yours, and it is in fact quite popular online. This supports the fact that the game is very limited due to a small variety of decor items.

I can't speak about your personal furniture combinations because I don't know what they are, and I am sorry that some people may have directly and intensionally copied you, but like I said, unfortunately I think this is something that cannot be controlled.

edit: Also I am sorry people have been hating on your posts. I think those people are the ones with problems, not you, and I would say keep posting because I'm sure many other people appreciate your content!

 

[satine]

Nah. I'm confident of my work and I don't need reassurance of others. I also have the backing/support of my girlfriend and my daughter who both plays ACNH and they are the ones who always criticize me so I could improve what I need to improve. I posted it to share not to be popular. It's just so happen that I could probably make stuff faster than others then post it continually or I'm just proud of them, I guess. I don't think you get it. I'm not saying that every creation I posted were original in nature, like literally, okay I made a cafe. No one will think of making a cafe. Of course not, everyone will think of making a cafe in their island. What I wanted to say is the style how you make it and how you put and arrange the furniture in a such a way that makes the thing unique. I'm talking specifically about rooms. I don't want to mention names but for example, several days ago, I posted this laundry room using the Misty garden wall as wallpaper and Flowing-river as flooring and put stuff/clothes on walls..Then later on, I see someone posting a bathroom with the same combination of wallpaper and flooring then a clothing hanging on the wall. Also, the wall items they have used gives a feel that you see in my under the water bedroom? The poster said it took a while for her to design that. How about saying they must have come across one of my rooms in the other thread. The use of wallpaper and flooring gave that away (they're not a set). That's too much of a coincidence. I've never seen like that having the exact same combination as mine plus I have seen a lot of posts of different rooms created by people and one thing I have noticed is that they aren't that fond of putting stuff on walls so why this particular person did that, apart from the similarities I said earlier?

It's actually not just one person. I saw one earlier that really looks like one of my rooms but I felt like the person has been trying to give me credit so I should probably not mind that. The funny thing is, it seems like most people does not want me posting or showing off/sharing my rooms but then I see a few trying to imitate it lol how ironic. At this point, I don't care what people will think of me. I came here to share my creations as well as share my knowledge about how to get this stuff, villager, etc. but seems like I'm either getting hated or doubted for it. Again, I don't need reassurance. Just saying that if you want to copy the placement and stuff in my rooms, how about letting me know? I would take that as a big compliment.

I'm sorry that this happened. That would be very unpleasant, assuming that they did mimic you and then claim to have not taken inspiration. I wonder if she just meant it took her forever to gather the materials / etc for that room by saying that, and not necessarily that it was entirely her concept?

I'm curious why you think that people don't want you posting or showing off your rooms? Do they say things like that to you or something? Or how you're getting hated on/doubted on? It'd be so strange for people on this forum to behave that way as they're usually quite sweet here. So I'm just really curious.

 

[wanderlust//]

I don’t care much about people doing exact copies. As long as they’re not saying “yep, I made this alllll by myself” then I don’t really see an issue? I took inspiration from someone on Reddit to make my entrance (just the terraforming) but all the decor was from my head. I personally don’t post any pictures from anywhere on my island, and the only time another person sees my island is when I’m doing a trade. I think even if I were to outright copy something it wouldn’t be a big deal. I’m not profiting off of it nor am I gaining any sort of clout for having something pretty on my island. Pretty much everything on my island has been influenced by something I found on the internet (I have a really hard time planning things and making my ideas into reality). The parts of my island that have been the most heavily referenced is my outdoor library and my greenhouse. (I’m going to be completely scrapping my library and trying to make it completely my own.) So basically the only thing I’ve “copied” the most was my greenhouse. (I think I’ve kept 90% of what I saw in the picture. Items and a bit of custom design pathing. Other than that I’ve changed the flowers and placing of a lot of things. Whenever anyone asks me about it I say something like “lol thanks but I didn’t make it myself” and send them a link to the og post/creator.) If someone were to copy something from my island I wouldn’t mind, even if they made money from it or gained internet fame. I think animal crossing is a game where everyone is inspired by others. Nothing wrong with that.

 

[meela]

I think it's a difficult situation. I think getting inspiration from other people is not a bad idea, and it's actually a good thing. If something I made inspires other people then I would be happy to hear that. But I think if you copy the entire room, or island area, or whatever, space for space, item for item, exactly 100% it's understandable for the "original" creator to be upset.

At the end of the day it's a video game. I don't take it super seriously, and if people copy my exact designs then whatever, it's really not a big deal to me. I'm happy to share my designs and see others compliment it, and see them talk about how they like it and are inspired by it.

 

[supernerd]

Mark Twain once said, " There is no such thing as a new idea. It is impossible. We simply take a lot of old ideas and put them into a sort of mental kaleidoscope. We give them a turn and they make new and curious combinations."

 

[Mo Notony]

So? Taking ideas from someone else is fine. Not like they're going to know anyway. Some people need inspiration from others.

 

[naranjita]

I don't even mind people copying an entire layout, tbh, as long as they don't try to pretend that they came up with it for clout or anything. I just don't see any harm in it. I don't think anything in my island is good enough to copy, but if anyone did I think I'd feel flattered and happy that I helped someone with an area of their island that they were maybe struggling with.

I do think coming up with your own ideas, even if it's just small tweaks to a preexisting layout, is a lot of fun, and I'd encourage everyone to try it, even if you think you'll be bad at it. I've honestly surprised myself with some of the stuff I've come up with!

 

[LuchaSloth]

I mean...I see it both ways.

Inspiration (not only in Animal Crossing...but, in general life) is simply unavoidable. Even on a subconscious level...you will always be influenced by the things around you. When it comes to Animal Crossing...I also think there is a very clear line between "inspired" and "stolen". If you take key ideas and do them in your own way...that's great. That's just genuinely nice to see. People brainstorming and taking the best bits of things to make a new thing. That's awesome. But, there is also "copying something exactly". Which...I don't really see as a problem. It doesn't affect me on a personal level. I don't mind if people want to copy the exact layout of someone else's town. It's not something that I would want to do...but, I'm not going to get angry at them for it. It's perfectly within their rights to do that...especially if they asked the original creator and got the blessing to do so.

All that said, I think it only becomes an obvious problem if people copy an idea and then claim it was their own idea.

 

[nintendoanna]

my opinion is: anybody can do whatever they want (as long as they don’t claim it’s their idea, when it clearly isn’t). i don’t see it as stealing or copying, rather taking inspo. if i didn’t have inspo to look at i would be so stuck as to what to do on my island

 

[Imbri]

I've been thinking about this, seeing all the comments, and I was reminded of the numerous decorating shows, magazines, and showrooms that are so popular. People recreate those looks in their houses that they actually live in, not a video game.

Give credit and move on.