Opinion on 'Copying' Rooms?

[lumenue]

I was looking at some dream town reviews and came across some scorn regarding rooms that were copied from another user's town. I never really thought about it before, but how is this treated in the AC fandom? Especially for ACNL, where hundreds of iconic towns were lost from the update - is it bad to copy a room layout if the town (and therefore the room), for all intent and purposes, doesn't exist anymore?

Similarly, what about getting inspiration from pictures of other people's rooms? I personally used inspiration pictures for the layout and design of a few of my rooms, and while they definitely aren't carbon copies, you could pinpoint certain aspects that both share.

I was just curious and wanted to hear what you guys thought!

 

[UglyMonsterFace]

I personally would hate if someone copied a room of mine exactly. It just seems so unoriginal. But then again I just hate copying in general so it could just be me. A little inspiration here and there doesn't hurt though, just use your own creativity so it isn't an exact replica and they are still two separate things.

 

[MayorZenia]

I don't think copying is bad as long as you cite the original person who designed that room, especially if it was from a town that was lost from the update. I wouldn't like looking for inspiration only to find out someone copied a room I designed only to say that they themselves made it. I totally wouldn't mind though if someone just like my room so much that they used it and said they discovered it because of me.

I also don't think recreating a lost town is bad unless that person says it was their own idea and they thought of everything that went into that town. It really just comes down to giving credit to those who truly put the work in it and really showed their creativity. Same thing goes to rooms that obviously was inspired by someone else's idea. I just don't like when others take credit for something that isn't theirs.

 

[Kitsey]

It's bad, especially if no credit to the original is given. I guess if you don't have a DA and copy a room because you like it, no one has to know, but if you're putting it out there for others to see, it's not acceptable. Even if credit is given, I'm not sure I'd be okay with it if it's 100% identical.

Getting inspiration is fine. Some themes especially seem quite common, like cutesy and childlike stuff, so it's inevitable that certain elements will overlap with other people's towns sometimes, but you should find some way to make it your own.

- - - Post Merge - - -

The above post got me thinking... maaaayyybe it's ok with me if it's a lost town? :/ As long as you make it very clear that it was not your original idea.

 

[Vonny]

Someone interrogated me about my custom Cyrus sapphire furniture once (my favorite room in the house) I was polite and answered all their questions but deep down I was like "giiiiirl". That room was a lot of trial and error and took me weeks to get just right, so yeah I'm not a fan of copycats

 

[Pansear-and-Nana]

There are infinite ways on how to design an interior/room. Copying rooms in AC sounds dumb, especially when you don't credit the original idea.

 

[5cm/s]

i think it's fine to get inspiration from other rooms, but full-out copying is a no! people put a lot of time and effort into their houses, and to just swoop in and take all their creative credit is just rude. if you're going to make a room that you think might be bordering on copying, make sure you give credit because it's not fair to the original creator and it's not fair to the people viewing your room and thinking it's yours!

 

[TheGreatBrain]

I wouldn't want someone copying my rooms, then taking credit for it. I don't mind if they get some inspiration from them, though. For instance, I seen a dream town that mixed pave with classic. I loved how it looked, so I created a room with those pieces, however, my room looked quite a bit different than theirs.

I've had people in the past copy things from my towns. These people posted their dream towns and when vistors commented on them, the players did give me credit for the idea. I didn't really mind ( too much.lol. ) The rooms weren't identical.

This reminds me of this player who asked me to visit and review her dream town. Every house was exactly the same as Aika village. Even the patterns. I thought it was strange, and I couldn't even give a review other than telling her she copied Aika.

Another player asked me to review hers too. She copied Shamrocks pub to a tee. I asked her if she made the wallpaper, and she actually took credit for it. I was very annoyed. I didn't say much about her town other than the pub was an exact copy of Shamrocks.

- - - Post Merge - - -

Oh, and I don't think it's ok if it's a lost town. It still doesn't make it right, and these players might start playing again.

 

[dizzy bone]

Yeahhh no. I wouldn't want to go into someone's dream and see an exact replica of my rooms. I like to mix and match and even draw my own patterns so I would be a little pissed if I saw it copied (or seriously inspired by that it's basically the same). I mean, how do you even credit someone in a dream if you were to do it? And to do it to someone whose town was lost from the old update is a terrible lol.

 

[tobiochan]

I believe taking inspiration from a room and not uploading it online is fine. As long it's only for your own eyes, then I'm okay with that.

However, uploading it online and claiming that it's yours is not acceptable. Especially when the original creator had spent a long time trying to create their ideal room. :'0

 

[AccfSally]

Ugh! I don't want no one to copy my rooms, especially taking credit of something they didn't do...
I worked really hard on my rooms (and so do others!), i'm trying to think of a way to do my house in Moonview right now, it's so hard -sigh-.

I do remember a while back (maybe in May of this year), I seen someone on miiverse posted a picture of one of their rooms and it looked just like a room I seen in the now deleted Japanese dream town, 'druggy village' I think or people called it for a nickname. All I know it was a town that had some guy wearing that yellow tulip hat and some dead girl?..
But whatever, they copied the 'drug' room.

A few years ago, some guy wanted to copy this one Japanese garden town..the one with the white paths and it was set during the Cherry blossoms. (The update has killed it now.. ) He wanted to copy everything! the villagers, the flowers, the characters and their houses!

Inspiration fine, but coping..NO! even if the town is gone now.

I hate that just as much as people hacking to steal a town. Like be like the rest of us and work on your own town.

the Dream Suite is for fun not a Super market!

 

[applebean]

i'm in agreement with everyone here, it's pretty bad to just steal another person's interior design. what's the point? decorating your house is only fun because you get to mess it up a thousand times. there's nothing special about looking at a picture of someone else's room and copying it item for item!

 

[Chick]

I agree with what everybody else says, but I think that when you copy rooms and patterns, you should contact the original creator (if possible) for permission. If somebody completely copied my room and gave credit to me for it, I wouldn't like it, because somebody else could copy from their dream town and assume it was the previous person's. If this is confusing, this is a script;
I make a great room.
Gyroid visits my DA and takes inspiration from my room.
In Gyroid's DA, they put the exact same room style, but they give credit.
Somebody visits Gyroid's DA, and likes the room style.
So that 'Somebody' gives credit to Gyroid for the room idea, not me.

 

[allainah]

Yeah I agree w/ everyone else haha
Copying is just ... rude and tbh a little creepy.
Getting inspiration from someones room is fine~

 

[~Unicorn~]

lol I don't even like copying, I like to be original all of the rooms in my house are original.

Not sure why people would copy from others. Makes their town less interesting if dream visitors keep seeing the same room :/

 

[moonphyx]

There's nothing wrong with taking some inspiration from the room, but copying it to the exact furniture in its place isn't a very nice thing to do.

 

[RiceBunny]

Considering there's a very limited amounts of items in the game, there's bound to be repetition. However, that doesn't mean you should steal someone else's room. You can and no one will probably ever know you've done it(unless you've copied a popular room), but you shouldn't. You shouldn't simply for the reason that you're removing a big and essential part of the game. You've removing for yourself a fun part of the game, which only in turn ends up hurting you.

I personally don't mind if people copy my room. Most people that come to my town, call it pretty- so I'd imagine at least some will go back home and incorporate something they've seen and make it their own. Don't mind that all.

 

[gldawn]

I think it's fine to draw inspiration from others, but I would definitely be annoyed if I saw an exact room of mine show up on someone's blog or something with no credit to myself.

 

[Ray-ACP]

I'd try not to copy directly but I have no creativity whatsoever. I'll use someone else's room as an idea but then change the layout and furniture. I think that's ok?

 

[Turnip Fairy]

It's okay to be inspired by something, or if you copy the room and just use it personally for inside of your house, but when you copy it and put it in a dream town or somewhere public and post it [especially without credit], it feels very wrong to me.

I definitely understand having no creativity, but I'd rather make my own crappy design than steal someone's work LOL
I view house designing as art in a way, so it feels kinda like art theft to me.

My tip to people who copy is; you won't get better at designing if you don't try. It takes practice!