# Animal Crossing: Choose Your Career



## Amissapanda (Apr 3, 2015)

So, I actually had this thought last night right before I was falling asleep.

I'm sure a lot of "new ideas for new AC games" have been talked about here, but I have one I'd like to bring to the table for fun discussion, if anyone is interested.

What I would really like to see in the next installment of the Animal Crossing series is a kind of "Fantasy Life" aspect to it. For those unfamiliar with Fantasy Life, the game lets you choose your "life", as in professions and such, and change them as you like.

I would love to see something like this in Animal Crossing. Now, of course, I don't mean that your character would take on RPG-esque professions or anything like that. Rather, that it's expanded from just being the mayor. For instance, maybe you could choose to want to work in various aspects of sales, and overcome challenges to grow your business/make bells/expand, etc. Or perhaps you could focus on being a fisherman and traveling to new/different places to discover different kinds of fish to grow your business/make bells. Or a fruit merchant who grows all different types of fruits for sales. Or into home building/home decorating/home sales. Fashion/clothing design and sales. An entertainer. And the list goes on!

I could see being the mayor potentially be an option, too, but I like the idea of having to _work up_ to that position instead of just falling into it like you do in New Leaf. Like after a series of challenges to help grow the town and make it prosperous, tourist-friendly, etc, you eventually become the mayor because you've earned it.

Now, I realize this may be a tad too complicated/ambitious for an Animal Crossing game, but I think the possibilities could be amazing, because it would give you many options instead of shoe-horning you into one position. So it would add even more replay value than the game already has. 

Other things I'd like to see involved in this idea potentially:

-Tourism by villagers (not the camping thing, but rather that as you grow your town up, more random villagers come by to check out your town and perhaps you can convince them to stay, like with the camping method but less reliant on the possibility of one showing up every few days---a bit more frequent than that)

-Competition in your career (IE: You vs. Tom Nook - Who can build the better house to suit the needs and specifications for a newcomer who wants one?)

-More villagers can move in/stay as your town grows. I imagine this idea being for the Wii U and therefore able to handle a lot more. 

-Core mechanics remain. You still have your own house for living/decorating, but potentially can upgrade it yourself if you have the proper career for it. You still befriend villagers, but perhaps their requests and such are more based off of your specific type of career. And fulfilling them not only increases friendship levels, but also can encourage growth in the town (IE: Maybe they tell you that they've written a letter to someone elsewhere who wants to come and see the town/potentially move because they recommended it.) Fishing/bug catching still done for leisure/a few extra bells. Etc.

-Lots of customization, such as being able to create your own furniture if you have a carpenter career. The ability to make/design more than just shirts/dresses. And to have those unavailable to those not in that career to give people a reason to want to play again and try a different career.

-A possible potential to have more than one career at once to keep things interesting and fun.

-Though this is unrelated to the idea itself, I was always sad that NPC characters that were not specifically villagers did not have homes or the ability to be befriended by the player. I'd like to see that changed. Maybe with growth, you can even convince those special characters to move into your town.


And that's it! I'll add more in comments if I think of things I missed along the way of considering this idea.

I realize that this idea if full of holes and potentially problems, but I thought it might be an interesting thing to discuss! If you have any thoughts, please do share. : )


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## oath2order (Apr 3, 2015)

this game is #NotTheSims


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## Amissapanda (Apr 3, 2015)

oath2order said:


> this game is #NotTheSims



And it hurts to throw around ideas, why, exactly? 

Also, it was more spawned from a AC-themed premise like that of _Fantasy Life_, as I said. Not the SIMs. And for your information, AC already shares plenty of characteristics with games like that. Befriending villagers/townspeople, building/decorating homes, etc. That doesn't make them the same game.


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## Xela (Apr 3, 2015)

I think it's an awesome idea. It would bring a lot more to the game rather than just grinding for your dreamies and making your town pretty.


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## oath2order (Apr 3, 2015)

Amissapanda said:


> And it hurts to throw around ideas, why, exactly?
> 
> Also, it was more spawned from a AC-themed premise like that of _Fantasy Life_, as I said. Not the SIMs. And for your information, AC already shares plenty of characteristics with games like that. Befriending villagers/townspeople, building/decorating homes, etc. That doesn't make them the same game.



I never said it hurt to throw around ideas. I'm just saying it's never going to happen.

#NotFantasyLife #NotTheSims #NeverHappening


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## Amissapanda (Apr 3, 2015)

Xela said:


> I think it's an awesome idea. It would bring a lot more to the game rather than just grinding for your dreamies and making your town pretty.



Thanks! I think it would definitely bring more out of the game by offering a lot more to do and give the players a far goal to reach toward by expanding their town larger and larger (maybe it can become a city, eventually lol). And with different career possibilities, that opens options that aren't limited to just basically being told you're the mayor or becoming a regular villager, yourself. 



oath2order said:


> I never said it hurt to throw around ideas. I'm just saying it's never going to happen.
> 
> #NotFantasyLife #NotTheSims #NeverHappening



In other words, you're just being rude. I know it's not going to happen. It's an idea. It's a discussion. I'm not petitioning Nintendo. If you don't want to discuss the topic, I don't understand why you responded at all.


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## Beardo (Apr 3, 2015)

Seems interesting enough. One of my favorite parts of the game is the little "game" in Brewster's. Maybe they could expand on that?


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## StarryACNL (Apr 3, 2015)

I would love more frequent visitors, also I think there should be more food shops or cafe's.
For some reason I would love to go to a pizzeria with Erik or Pango!!


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## Amissapanda (Apr 3, 2015)

Beardo said:


> Seems interesting enough. One of my favorite parts of the game is the little "game" in Brewster's. Maybe they could expand on that?



Yeah, that would be really cool! I like the little coffee making mini-game in there too. And in conjunction with the idea below, there could be careers centered around food/drink service/making.



StarryACNL said:


> I would love more frequent visitors, also I think there should be more food shops or cafe's.
> For some reason I would love to go to a pizzeria with Erik or Pango!!



That was something I'd also love to see! It was a little bit disappointing in the game how you could only buy a coffee or get a cocktail on New Years or something. If they had food shops, it could expand all kinds of things. Pizza places, dessert shops/bakeries, ice cream shops, full-on restaurants, etc. And as you expand your town, you could get more options for those places to be built!

Speaking of that, another thing I neglected to mention is that I'd love there to be an option for things like friend gatherings/parties and even potential romance stuff (even if it's limited to the villagers seeing each other, that could create all kind of new dialogue, the potential to "set up" villagers, etc). I realize that's getting even more complicated yet, but I just feel like it would be so cute in the _Animal Crossing_ setting/universe. It brings new levels to interactions and could potentially be something to work toward, like starting as strangers > acquaintances > casual friends > good friends > best friends, etc.


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## StarryACNL (Apr 3, 2015)

Romance would be so cool!
Although I can't see it working between Big Top and Apple though


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## Amissapanda (Apr 3, 2015)

StarryACNL said:


> Romance would be so cool!
> Although I can't see it working between Big Top and Apple though



It could be a fun feature, certainly. I know a lot of people draw shipping art for the game series, myself included. XD I think that would be pretty well-received in AC games. At the same time, though, I don't know if they'd ever go that route.


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## LaBelleFleur (Apr 4, 2015)

I read your whole post this morning, but forgot to respond until now.

I really like all of the ideas you brought up. I'd love it if they'd add different games involving the different stores around town, much like the Brewsters minigame. For example, you could style your villagers at Able Sisters, cut & colour their hair at Shampoodle, or make them different food and drinks at the restaurants you suggested. I also really like the idea of working up to being the Mayor as your town develops instead of just falling into the position - it makes it seem a bit more realistic. The idea of tourism is intriguing, and it would be fun to have different villagers visit, especially if they could visit from your friends' towns that you've been to (and your villagers could visit your friends' towns).

I would love it if the NPC characters had homes in your town (or if they had a back room in their shops where they lived that you could visit). It would feel more like the Animal Crossing movie where the NPCs had personalities beyond their roles in the game. 

I think the idea of set career paths you can follow is more suited to a game like Fantasy Life or Harvest Moon. For me, the fun of Animal Crossing is in its simplicity - I can do whatever I want, whenever I want. One day, I can sell island bugs for bells, the next day, I can sell perfect fruit. While having multiple career paths to choose from seems to create more options at first, I can see how it would feel limiting down the road when you're more established in that field. I feel the same way about competition between town members (e.g. Your character and Tom Nook), or romance between characters. To me, it just feels slightly too complex for what the Animal Crossing series is.

I love brainstorming ideas like this - it's fun to think of things that would expand and improve the series in different ways. So there's my extremely long two cents.


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## Hypno KK (Apr 4, 2015)

I would really hate careers, especially careers as something you'd need to unlock special features. It would make the game have more rigid goals and progress differently, which is not what the AC series is known for. It's known for its slow pace and the fact that for the most part, you don't really have any set goals (and the clearer goals that exist, like unlocking shops, are pretty simple). 

The closest career-type feature I'd like would be minigames, like the one you get when you're working at Brewster's. But it's not very career-like since there aren't specific rewards and the ones you get (like coffee beans and the other items) are pretty simple, not extra features or skills you need to develop to unlock things. I'd like the ability to work at Brewster's for longer, and maybe similar minigames, but not an actual career system.

- - - Post Merge - - -



Amissapanda said:


> Speaking of that, another thing I neglected to mention is that I'd love there to be an option for things like friend gatherings/parties and even potential romance stuff (even if it's limited to the villagers seeing each other, that could create all kind of new dialogue, the potential to "set up" villagers, etc). I realize that's getting even more complicated yet, but I just feel like it would be so cute in the _Animal Crossing_ setting/universe. It brings new levels to interactions and could potentially be something to work toward, like starting as strangers > acquaintances > casual friends > good friends > best friends, etc.



I'd like being able to invite villagers to hang out, even if it were just to my house or Club LOL or Brewster's. I wouldn't want a romance system, though.

I think that ideas like a romance system or careers are things that already exist in other games that have those as staples of what to expect when you play them. There's no need to change AC completely, unless it's just a spin-off, just to make the game look more like Fantasy Life or other games. Using that reasoning we could then give players the ability to use the bugs and fish they catch to battle each other to make the game more like Pok?mon, because Pok?mon is popular and fun.


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## infinikitten (Apr 4, 2015)

I think this would be a really cute addition to the series and give a lot of extra stuff to do during the day (or night, depending).



Amissapanda said:


> And it hurts to throw around ideas, why, exactly?
> 
> Also, it was more spawned from a AC-themed premise like that of _Fantasy Life_, as I said. Not the SIMs. And for your information, AC already shares plenty of characteristics with games like that. Befriending villagers/townspeople, building/decorating homes, etc. That doesn't make them the same game.



It doesn't hurt at all. Don't let them get to you.


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## XxNicolexX (Apr 6, 2015)

I think that would be awesome if that was to ever happen.


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## eraev (Apr 6, 2015)

I'm not sure I fully agree that there should be in-depth career paths. Like someone else said, the thing I enjoy about AC is the simplicity of it, and I feel like things like jobs and "lives" really belong to games like Fantasy Life and Harvest Moon, especially given that they've pretty much mastered the idea. In Animal Crossing, I'm afraid it would look too much like a spinoff, when AC is its own series with its own quirks and characteristics. But if there were more "job" mini-games like Brewster's game for special items, I would enjoy that.

I don't think I want a romance system either. It would remove the innocence of the game. I like the tiny hints and crushes in the game already; any more, and I think that it would be semi-disturbing. Being able to invite villagers to do things would be awesome -- I love the hide and seek minigame already, if there were more things like that that you could actually do with villagers, the game would be better as far as villager interaction goes.


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## oath2order (Apr 6, 2015)

eraev said:


> I'm not sure I fully agree that there should be in-depth career paths. Like someone else said, the thing I enjoy about AC is the simplicity of it, and I feel like things like jobs and "lives" really belong to games like Fantasy Life and Harvest Moon, especially given that they've pretty much mastered the idea. In Animal Crossing, I'm afraid it would look too much like a spinoff, when AC is its own series with its own quirks and characteristics. But if there were more "job" mini-games like Brewster's game for special items, I would enjoy that.
> 
> I don't think I want a romance system either. It would remove the innocence of the game. I like the tiny hints and crushes in the game already; any more, and I think that it would be semi-disturbing. Being able to invite villagers to do things would be awesome -- I love the hide and seek minigame already, if there were more things like that that you could actually do with villagers, the game would be better as far as villager interaction goes.



I like this post because it says what I want to say but in a far nicer fashion.


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## mayorofparadise (Apr 7, 2015)

Good ideas


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## Classygirl (Apr 8, 2015)

I think a good new aspect would be to open a shop of some sort...or be a party planner. One thing I am really hoping for if there is no city is more interaction between you and multiple characters other then birthdays. Like they say let's all go shopping or have a picnic, ok...make some more than one villager interaction and we can hang out with multiple friend villagers and actually go to the club, or shop, or have a party. That would be fun. As a job, I am a little disappointed in the Mayor, you have no control and Isabelle is Mayor pretty much, you can't even make your own petitions for permits of new ideas.


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## Peony (Apr 8, 2015)

I sort of like ac for being a relaxing game that doesn't require too much planning or strategy on my part like an RPG/Simulator would. It's nice to just get away for awhile. Though I wouldn't mind the option of more in depth career ideas I can't say I would view it as the same game though.


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