i kinda miss the villagers being mean

[VITTO]

In all of the other ac games the villagers were legit super mad if you ignored them for too long and they were just mean sometimes,
I really loved that feature even tho i could see it getting removed because of the really younger audience getting upset.
I'd really like to get it back as like a "optional" thing. Like you could go in the settings and turn it on/off, i feel like it was something that really gave the villagers more personality and it was legit super funny.

 

[Juicydugong]

In all of the other ac games the villagers were legit super mad if you ignored them for too long and they were just mean sometimes,
I really loved that feature even tho i could see it getting removed because of the really younger audience getting upset.
I'd really like to get it back as like a "optional" thing. Like you could go in the settings and turn it on/off, i feel like it was something that really gave the villagers more personality and it was legit super funny.

I agree so much, I hardly ever speak to my villagers now. In the old games I loved to!!

 

[oak]

On the gamecube they used to tell me I smell like wet human when it rained and I miss that. I thought it was hilarious when I was younger.

 

[. Rarity .]

Ive seen videos of the villagers being mean, and I really wish that you could still make them mad, it would defently be entertaining

I wonder how long it would take to get them mad. Or the cues that would make them mad. If they had days, like in Stardew where the characters sometimes wanna be left alone for the day, and get annoyed when you still talk to them. that would be cool.

 

[McRibbie]

This was also a problem in NL tbf, we’re getting into the 10th year of discourse surrounding “I miss mean villagers!!!” next year, so I find the idea that it originated in NH kinda weird to say the least… and tbh, I think people are missing something pretty big about it that when you realise it, you’re just like “HOW DID I MISS THAT?!”:

You’re no longer just Villager Murabito, Random Schmuck Who Just Arrived In Town, a lowly noob ripe for hucksterin’ in an unfamiliar place whose only responsibility is paying off their house.

You are Mayor Sonchou, God-Emperor Of All Animal Crossing. You have the ability to reshape the very landscape you live on, and decorate according to your own whims. You can convince villagers to evict other villagers purely by crafting them enough furniture. You can set rules that dictate when they get up, purely so it doesn’t inconvenience you. And most importantly, they can’t move without your explicit approval.

None of this really screams “compatible with villagers who belittle your every decision with weird, slightly archaic slang like wacko, scuzzbag or meathead”, does it? If I’m being honest, it screams “compatible with villagers who encourage your every creative whim, no matter how awful it is” because the emphasis has very much shifted from “you’re just some nobody moving into a town in the middle of nowhere” to “you’re moving into somewhere in the middle of nowhere that you can decorate to reflect your personality”, and unless the emphasis shifts back again, I genuinely don’t think it’s gonna come back, no matter how much people go “dialogue bad” or blame it entirely on people complaining about it.

 

[DJStarstryker]

I agree with McRibbie. They weren't really mean in NL either. I mean, they were a little more than NH for sure, but it still felt a bit mild. You kind of have to go all the way back to the Gamecube game to get the level of spicy that I think you are referring to.

I almost felt like they could be TOO mean at times in the Gamecube game, even if it was also funny. It made me completely hate certain characters after a while and feel like they had no redeeming value.

 

[Flicky]

I think it should return, but only take effect when you have a really, really low friendship with the villager. Have it start at, say, 30/255. Below 30 triggers 'tolerant' talk, and below 10 triggers a mean villager speech from the Gamecube era. At least then, people who aren't looking to get angry villagers probably won't encounter it much (if at all). It could also make it easier to kick certain villagers out.

 

[JKDOS]

It a good mechanic for friendship, because as you become acquainted or friends, they can be more open and friendly to you.

What makes it best of all is all of us always have that 1 villager we dislike. And having them dislike us back would feel like we're actually enemies with each other. When you be "mean" to the villager you dislike they're always happy like "This is fine".

 

[Jhine7]

I definitely miss this as well. I’ve been playing some AC GameCube on my steam deck and seeing the villagers actually mean, it was good times.

 

[-Blue-]

I heard that the mean villager dialogue was NoA taking liberties in the translation. So the true Japanese dialogue probably wasn't as abrasive as our version. Which if true would make sense why the rudeness never came back.

I don't really think we need them to be at the level of the GameCube version, but villagers definitely do need a lot more variety. Both NL and NH weren't carried by the villagers, but the reason it's so evidently clear in NH is because of its bare-bone launch. There were so many things to distract with NL whereas with NH it was just the decorating.

 

[Belle T]

None of this really screams “compatible with villagers who belittle your every decision with weird, slightly archaic slang like wacko, scuzzbag or meathead”, does it?

I mean, why not? The Sim City games do this all the time. Give you the option to do outrageous and morally reprehensible things and then have your entire city scold you for it. That's part of the fun. I understand that there is a difference in that Sim City is about fostering a community on a macro level, rather than comprised of intimate dialogues, bu the principle is still the same.

One of the first things I remember people doing when New Horizons was first released was experimenting with what would happen if you terraformed your island to be just a tiny piece of land, effectively drowning your entire island. Imagine how much more fun that would be if your villagers actually responded to it.

 

[-Mars-]

-

 

[Croconaw]

I just wish they had more personality in general. It’s too repetitive.

 

[moonshi]

I just wish they had more personality in general. It’s too repetitive.

This! I would love some meanness to them. Game will definitely a lot more interesting, and yes please make it an option so it can be turn off or on.

 

[McRibbie]

On the gamecube they used to tell me I smell like wet human when it rained and I miss that. I thought it was hilarious when I wad younger.

tbf, that is genuinely hilarious. And weird, which is always a plus when it comes to AC dialogue.

I mean, why not? The Sim City games do this all the time. Give you the option to do outrageous and morally reprehensible things and then have your entire city scold you for it. That's part of the fun. I understand that there is a difference in that Sim City is about fostering a community on a macro level, rather than comprised of intimate dialogues, bu the principle is still the same.

One of the first things I remember people doing when New Horizons was first released was experimenting with what would happen if you terraformed your island to be just a tiny piece of land, effectively drowning your entire island. Imagine how much more fun that would be if your villagers actually responded to it.

While the idea of them going "whoa, your decorating has made this island literally un-navigateable" is kinda novel, I also maintain that one of the main tenets of NL and NH is "do whatever you want to the area, no matter how deranged or stupid it is, because it's your area and it reflects your personality and you communicate that to others", rather than being an exercise in building and managing a city like SimCity is. Other than hitting them with nets or pushing them into holes, the one thing villagers still explicitly get mad about, there's nothing explicitly amoral you can do (although there's a load of stuff with ultimately amoral connotations, like literally paying money to swap villagers), and I think my point still stands there.

As for the idea that it's just something that you can toggle on and off: guys, adding two extra personalities to the game caused dialogue to suffer (although I think that the general decrease in localisation time for all regions hasn't helped at all), you're really telling me that this is a simple fix, as opposed to something that's going to make Animal Crossing dialogue even more "you're looking like the coolest cucumber! Let's dance! Rumours are kinda scary, aren't they?" levels of repetitive?

 

[JKDOS]

One of the first things I remember people doing when New Horizons was first released was experimenting with what would happen if you terraformed your island to be just a tiny piece of land, effectively drowning your entire island. Imagine how much more fun that would be if your villagers actually responded to it.

This town aint big enough for the 2 of us

 

[Belle T]

While the idea of them going "whoa, your decorating has made this island literally un-navigateable" is kinda novel, I also maintain that one of the main tenets of NL and NH is "do whatever you want to the area, no matter how deranged or stupid it is, because it's your area and it reflects your personality and you communicate that to others", rather than being an exercise in building and managing a city like SimCity is. Other than hitting them with nets or pushing them into holes, the one thing villagers still explicitly get mad about, there's nothing explicitly amoral you can do (although there's a load of stuff with ultimately amoral connotations, like literally paying money to swap villagers), and I think my point still stands there.

The game is constantly grading you in other areas, from Isabelle's island ranking, which gives you a multitude of different requisites that are necessary for being allowed to progress in the game at all, and the Happy Home Academy, which gives your home a rank every Sunday based on the game's arbitrary criteria for what makes the home complete. I don't see why the villagers can't also do that. Just like you can just ignore Isabelle or HHA (for the most part), there's no reason why the villagers can't also say their piece and just have you ignore them as well.

Also, I think you're taking my "morally reprehensible" line a tad too... literally?

As for the idea that it's just something that you can toggle on and off: guys, adding two extra personalities to the game caused dialogue to suffer (although I think that the general decrease in localisation time for all regions hasn't helped at all), you're really telling me that this is a simple fix, as opposed to something that's going to make Animal Crossing dialogue even more "you're looking like the coolest cucumber! Let's dance! Rumours are kinda scary, aren't they?" levels of repetitive?

I do agree with this, though, but less because I think having the option would take resources away from other aspects of interaction, but because I think the problem with the dialogue (at least in New Leaf and onward) is rooted in the games trying to appeal to literally everybody. I don't think there's an inherent problem with trying to aim for a larger audience, but at some point, you have to draw the line and say "This is just how our characters are." Having the option to toggle it on and off just comes across to me at best as indecisive, and at worst extremely disjointed.

 

[Corrie]

I just wish they had more personality in general. It’s too repetitive.

This. I don't care if they're 'mean', I just want them to have some sort of depth. They never seem to dislike anything or complain and it's weird. They're just happy go lucky all the time and it's draining/feels fake anyway.

 

[QueenCobra]

I hate making my villagers mad, but it's funny when I do. I love how they stomp around with steam coming out of their ears.

 

[Bluebellie]

I don’t interact with my villagers much now. I feel like I would if they occasionally got mad at me. I feel like they are very repetitive and all personalities feel quite the same. I remember Snooty and Cranky were meaner, and Peppy characters were peppier?