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[Uffe]

I think its a combination of, there being a reason why they are popular (sherb is adorable come on) and exposure to the villagers.
The more people talk about certain villagers the more aware of their existence people become.

Such as I know who Bob is because a youtuber has them as their favourite villager. There are lots of villagers who's names I don't know because I've never met them myself and no one goes on about them.

I mean I do agree with you. I think Bob is hideous and can only put the love for him down to a cult mentality XD

But yeah, I think its down mainly to what people know about and how some villagers just have wide appeal in general.

Bob became popular during New Leaf. He wasn't considered a great villager at the time. People were trying to get him to be loved by people in the AC community and obviously it worked. I don't find Sherb appealing personally because he looks like a sickly child to me. There are plenty of villagers in the game that I feel deserve more recognition compared to the current popular ones. But like you said, it's exposure.

 

[bleached]

I think 80% of my opinion on a villager is their looks and the 20% is their personality. I hate jocks - except Dom because he looks adorable. Pretty much all of my favourite villagers are my favourite because I like their design. I rarely think about their personality tbh.

 

[Halloqueen]

Considering that any two villagers from a personality are essentially the same character in terms of dialogue, I absolutely prioritize villager design. I don't follow or care about tier lists, I like who I like and they're spread out through all the tiers, so it's not a matter of popularity. There are a lot of villagers whose designs I really like and try to include in my towns, and there are a lot of other villagers who I just find plain or uninteresting.

That said, I do factor in personality to the degree that I want at least one of each personality so as to avoid repetitive dialogue as much as possible.

 

[nightglow]

I also think that their Hobby plays a role too. While two Villagers may have the same personally, one may be liked more than the other because they have the Play hobby and seen as more care free as opposed to say Education hobby or vs versa because perhaps the player has an interested in learning things that may be complex so they relate more to the village of the same personality but has the Education hobby.

 

[Splinter]

The personalities are boring, so yeah.

 

[kemdi]

I think for me its neither...or both? Im honestly not sure. At first I wanted my villagers to be the same ones I had in NL. Back then before amiibo cards, I couldnt control who moved in or out, since I didn't feel like trading and the reset trick looked incredibly tedious. So I decided to take villagers as they came. I ended up being attached to the ones last ones I had, so I wanted them all back for NH.

In between then and NH, I ended up collecting all the amiibo cards. When NH was released I wanted
to get back all my NL villagers through their cards. But NH had the poster system to collect and there were 8 new villagers that didnt have cards...AND Im kind of a completionist...so I decided to track down all 8 new villagers...but grew attached to them instead. Im still missing Megan...once I have her poster and pic Im gonna send all 8 of the new villagers to my southern island to make room for my NL originals. I dont want to just be rid of them. They're all cute and I like them all very much! At the same time Im also looking forward to having Etoile, she's very cute and the last of my last NL villagers so of course I want her in my main town...

Im not sure if it's about looks, personalities, or something else for me. I want Etoile because shes very cute and because I had her in NL. At the same time with a complete amiibo set, and all 8 new villagers, I could have a total island of "cute" villagers...but I don't. I want my NL originals, uglies and all. Once I have Megans pic and get her poster in my catalog, along with the Sanrio update, Ill finally have everyone back, idc if they're 'ugly'.

 

[Che5hire Cat]

Ever since I start playing Animal Crossing, I always picked villagers based on their look, rather than their personality. Even if they may have a personality I don't like so much, I still pick them when their design appeals to me. For an example, I'm not a huge fan of Jock villagers, yet Rudy is one of my all-time favorites, simply because I find him adorable. Although when it comes to pick villagers for my island, I do try to get one of each personality and not ending up having like five Crankies or Lazies, since I do want some variety when it comes to the dialogue and such. Even if it means that I have to pass on a favorite when they have a personality I already have.

I liked Raymond for other reasons.
He reminds me of David Bowie.

From now on, I'm gonna call Raymond "Bowie cat". May think about it to get him now just for that reason since I like David Bowie a lot, lol.

 

[Manah]

There are only eight personalities and ten slots, so I end up with one of each very easily. Design is the only real difference between villagers of the same personality and the only real way to narrow down which ones you want.

 

[ChocoPie22]

I do pick my villagers based on looks, but I try to get variety of personalities too!

 

[oranje]

I always like having at least one of each personality type on my island, or else it would get too repetitive and boring! But because the personality types are the same regardless of the individual villager, choosing who stays does boil down to their design.

With that said, I'm pretty open minded when it comes to looks. There's always at least one villager from every species in the game that I like, including the least popular ones like cows and gorillas (Boone will never stop being cool to me). I'm not a fan of more popular pastels and cutesy designs and I lean more towards bright, bold colors, interesting/cool concepts (like the robot villagers), or natural colors/villagers based on real life animals. Currently my villagers have a nautical/natural theme, but if I could, I'd love to invite more villagers like Gigi, Kevin, Peggy, Boone, Hazel, etc.

So I think there's always someone out there that will appreciate the "ugly" or not as popular villagers. Every single villager has someone that loves them and that will be appreciated for their looks, no matter what!

 

[Plainbluetees]

I definitely pick looks over personality. I don’t really like any of the sisterly villagers, for example. once Renee coughs up her picture, I’m moving her out and I probably won’t have any sisterly villagers for a while.

 

[Junebugsy94]

I feel like I end up choosing a lot of normal villagers just by chance. There are many of that personality type I find cute So yes I do tend to choose villagers by appearance vs personality.

 

[Cosmic-chan]

Filbert is child he reminds me of DOPPIO in a way. Just baby
However, most of the time I pick based on looks.

 

[satine]

I mean I don't see what's wrong with it? Many people base the way they play the game or decorate their island based on their aesthetic preferences. It's just human nature to be attracted to things that fit our aesthetic preferences. Nothing deep about it. Just the way things work generally. I don't think it makes sense to pretend like we're above doing such a thing, especially since the variety of personalities is so limited in this game.

I think the tiered list exists and sustains itself because popularity has reasoning behind it. Like, things are popular... For a reason. Everyone has their own opinions of course, but apparently many people have similar opinions about which ones are the cutest and that's perfectly fine and to be expected.

Considering that any two villagers from a personality are essentially the same character in terms of dialogue, I absolutely prioritize villager design. I don't follow or care about tier lists, I like who I like and they're spread out through all the tiers, so it's not a matter of popularity. There are a lot of villagers whose designs I really like and try to include in my towns, and there are a lot of other villagers who I just find plain or uninteresting.

That said, I do factor in personality to the degree that I want at least one of each personality so as to avoid repetitive dialogue as much as possible.

I agree with this! I don't care about the tier list. There are some high on it that I don't like the design of personally. There are some lower tiered ones that I think are adorable and have on every island and town, like Purrl. And some that happen to be high on the list that I do like, and it's not because I'm following what's popular. It's because I agree with a large majority of people that a particular villager is cute.

Personality is of course a factor for me as well but there's 10 slots, and 8 personalities (I think?). It's going to overlap. And there are many cute and non-cute designs amongst each personality to choose from.

I'd love it if they gave variety or character development. But unfortunately that has not happened. And I'll just be over on my island watering the flowers of my cute little animals' gardens and cherishing their sweet little designs even if it never does

 

[Rika092]

To me it's not mutually exclusive. When I consider my villagers I factor in both personality and looks - I think someone said in this thread already but first i gotta make sure I have one personality of each, and then for the remaining two slots I pick base on looks/species/aethestics etc (and sometimes even house exteriors).

 

[Ossiran]

Looks, personality, and house are all important.

 

[Kattea]

I definitely choose my villagers for looks over personality. Right now I have four normals on my island because I just love their aesthetic so I’ll put up with the repetitive dialogue.