Developers say why there are not-so-cute villagers in the game...

[CrankyCupcake]

I was watching this YT video which features an interview with the AC:NL developers: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iV9nRWPeMz0

On the subject of why they did not make every villager cute and lovable:

"Sometimes we meet someone we may not get along with, but we may find out about their good personality through spending time together so that we may change our minds about the person who we did not warm up to in the beginning. We would like to see similar things happen in the Animal Crossing world as we experience in our real world."

I'm going to go further and speculate that this is why we have grass deterioration in the game, why we cannot immediately evict villagers we don't like, why we cannot restrict visitors' behaviour in our towns, etc. The developers aren't trying to give us a perfect town and a perfect game. Some things need to be out of our control, for the game to remain interesting.

 

[Chrissy.]

^ This. I decided to let Violet go. Until she sent me her picture in the mail the day after she moved, I didn't realise just how much I was talking to her. For one thing, I'll be glad to see her again on Main Street.

 

[Datsu]

That's really interesting, and a great theory. I think that if everything was directly in our control, the game would get pretty boring pretty fast.

 

[Kaiaa]

I am glad they added no-so-cute villagers! I feel like I'm the only one who likes villagers, no matter how they look =p
It's all about getting to know them and being friends whether they are cute or not

 

[Robert Plant]

What matters is how strong your friendship is, not how the villager looks like.

I think that's what they're teaching us.

 

[Hirisa]

I've been playing since the GameCube version, and for me, there's always that one villager that starts off being irritating, and ends up being my character's best friend. I love that experience. First time around, it was Gwen the snooty penguin. This time around, it was Canberra. She moved in right where I wanted to put a lighthouse. Not a great beginning.

She's abrasive (well, abrasive for New Leaf, which is to say, not very, but that's another matter) and she has an angry/alarmed expression at all times that made me wonder if I did something wrong when I saw her (I see people hating on her for being "ugly" on various AC forums, which I don't understand. Even if it is "just a videogame," what a thing to hate someone for.) But as we talked daily, as she gave me medicine every time my face was torn up by bees, as I kept running into her at the club at 1 AM, as we fished side by side every evening, I began to just adore her. And I found someplace else for my lighthouse.

 

[Superpenguin]

This time around, it was Canberra.

Haha same. She moved in where I was planning to put a bench, and when I first saw her, I couldn't stand her. Now she is my favorite Koala, and definitely someone I want to keep in my town for a long time. <3

 

[Robert Plant]

^why does everyone hate ugly people?

At least Canberra gives you medicine when your face is critical'd by bees.

 

[Feraligator]

I disliked Vic at the start, but now he's really cool. I don't mind about the neighbours moving in anywhere too much, it's really up to them.

 

[Punchyleaf]

Because people like looking at nice things. Just like in real life, you're more likely to avoid someone who looks like Quasimodo than you are to avoid the pretty girl or handsome guy when offered help or even small talk by both.

Sadly it's hard wired into humans from a young age thanks to the media. Personally, I don't like some of my villagers, but they're personality makes me keep talking to them because they'll either be very funny or adorable in their mannerisms.

 

[Gizmodo]

Mine was always Mallary.. she moved into my Wild World Town, and i hated her, sent her junk, attacked her, dug pitfalls etc, eventually she moved.. a few months later she returned, once again i didn't like her as much and she quickly left after a few weeks.. However she then came back for a 3rd Time!! and i decided to bother to get to know her, i ended up LOVING her, and i was so sad when she left, however she ended up coming back for a 4th time, and lasted for many months!
Anyway i'd now love Mallary in my new leaf town, so it shows you can end up liking a villager

 

[Violit]

This! I would probably prefer to have cuter villagers but Penelope is cuter than Lyman and I can't stand her but adore Lyman. I'm sure that in an ideal world we'd have cute villagers with cute personalities but I think there are some less attractive ones with smashing personalities.

 

[mathistheworst]

^ This. I decided to let Violet go. Until she sent me her picture in the mail the day after she moved, I didn't realise just how much I was talking to her. For one thing, I'll be glad to see her again on Main Street.

Decided to let her go? Am I missing some vital eviction component in this game?

 

[hijessicarose]

I only dislike the "ugly" villagers if I don't like their personality. I don't care for cranky villagers because their personality is annoying to me, and sadly those are the only two villagers I'd really like to get rid of Lol (Cesar and Rolf).

 

[Lyla]

I like having a town filled with lots of different kinds of villagers. If they were all cute peppy animals the game would get boring fast. I thought I wouldn't like Kyle when he first moved in, but I love him now. I'm never letting him leave ha.

 

[Chrissy.]

Decided to let her go? Am I missing some vital eviction component in this game?

Nah, she told me she was moving out. I never dug pitfalls or hit her with a net or anything like that. In fact, I always completed her requests and tried my best not to turn anything down. I decided I wanted to see some fresh faces in Perylene, as I've had the game for over a month but only two villagers before her have moved out.

So yeah. I didn't hate her or anything. But agreeably she's perhaps regarded as not being very cute or attractive.

 

[rivulet]

Yeah, I got Muffy recently, I know a lot of people love her and she's not a hated villager, but I wasn't so fond of her at first. But I gave her a chance, and she's really nice. She's one of my favorites in my town. c:

 

[kmyk]

I had Pietro and I hated him so much. I just really don't like clowns. So I avoided him all the time, and trapped him with pitfalls. I finally got him to move ..... and then I missed him....

 

[sweetfire]

I also had a similar experience, I got gruff as a starter and at first I didn't think I'll like him. But he turned out to be adorable. He asked to move once and I stopped him

 

[Hamsterific]

I really admire that they made the game so wholesome, educational and manage to provide a great message. It has a positive influence on young kids, while still being fun and accessible for people of all ages. That's amazing!