Day Four - Jan. 4, 2012 - "The Capitalist; Part One."

Tom Nook.


There are many who cringe at the sound of that name. Why?

OPPORTUNIST

After a friendly, and possibly annoying, conversation with a cat named Rover he sets you up with a friend of his. A raccoon by the name of Tom Nook greets you as you exit the train station. This is very important because you, being a responsible individual ready take life by the horns, did not first work out where you'll live in this new town. You are essentially homeless until Tom graciously shows you the four shacks that he has available for you!

I mean it when I say shacks. All of them are in terrible condition, some having tin wallpaper or wire grating floors. These are easy to beef up and improve after an hour or two in game, but it made me less excited about moving in. These are the only houses Tom Nook has to offer? What a stupid town.

As it should be. I deserve this sort of turnout if I didn't take this new step in life patiently and explore my options more clearly before buying a train ticket and riding off into a weird, crazy village! WITH NO JOB.

There in lies a large issue. The player is forced into this situation that they really didn't have control over. At times, Tom seems to really want to help the player get settled in. I respect that sort of generosity. Then he decides to offer you a job at his shop! GOOD GRACIOUS! That's fantastic! That solves all my life problems right there! There probably aren't any other good paying jobs in this tightly knit little town and Tom's willing to go out on the line for this new face. The player has so far proved that they are impatient, prone to be unprepared, and poor. Lets go over that bit.

Your mortgage for whatever shack you pick is about 19,500 bells (the currency in Animal Crossing). You promptly go into your inventory and give Tom 1,000 bells. This is all that you have other than the clothes on your back. 


Immediately, he laughs at you. I'd laugh to. How utterly unprepared and silly our character is sometimes. Regardless, Tom Nook wants to make this whole deal pass with the player having a roof over their head and decides to give you a job. GIVE YOU A JOB. This is another instance where the player isn't given a choice. Not that there is much of a choice to begin with.

Some stop here and go immediately to one side of the line. Tom Nook is obviously taking advantage of you. Hell, he's taking advantage of every animal in town! He has a monopoly on the place, being the only place where you can purchase anything! Even worse, this is practically slave labor! You want me to plant flowers? WHAT? You want me to go ahead and write up these damn slogans for your shop? ARE YOU A LAZY BASTARD? 

He follows you like a shark throughout your store, making sure to spout nonsensical descriptions about his products whenever you want to purchase something. In other games, the shop is just a pitstop where you buy what you need and move on. Why waste my time with this crap?

Lets assume that Tom Nook is, in fact, wanting a wad of your money. Or what money you can make. Why hire you then? Why give you a job at all and just tell you to go and make some dough however you can. If that was what would have happened the player would have eventually gotten frustrated if the game wasn't able to provide some clarity on HOW you make money or how you interact with the villagers.

Lets imagine for a second how this introduction of Tom Nook is setup. A new villager arrives in town, with no home, little to no money, and no friends. This new resident is alone in the world, practically without any means civilized means of fending for himself in a town that has an established economy. I could see this poor, tragic idiot feeding off the fruits of the trees and sleeping behind peoples houses or down by the beach. Tom could have simply left the player to their own devices and the outcome would have possibly become something along the lines of a completely different simulation game. 

Bum Crossing.

That would have been interesting, I admit, but that's not the vision that the developers had for the game (a game meant to be played by children and adults alike). This game was about a friendly community, teaching the player about the value of neighborly communion and economy. Tom takes a risk, a huge risk, in taking a chance and providing this player with a chance to thrive in the village.

The player is an idiot. They know nothing of how this village operates. Take a close look at the jobs Tom assigns you. 

First, he asks you to plant trees and flower so people will come to his shop. Obviously, this is meant to install an idea that the more attractive the town is the happier the villagers will be and the more new animals will move in. Tom asks you to go take a break and introduce yourself to the villagers, showing the player that everyone in the town is connected, that if you're a lazy grouch you won't get the most out of this game. 

Next comes the most prominent part of the game: DELIVERING STUFF. Go take this thing to this villager. You will be rewarded and they will begin to trust you. See a pattern yet?

Write an ad for the Nook' Cranny. Teaches you how to use the bulletin board. Write a letter to a customer. Teaches you how the letter system works.

Aw heck, I'll go ahead and say it. Tom Nook is teaching the player everything they'll need in order to prosper in the village. He calls it work, but it's simple things that the player will do every day in their new life in the village. He becomes your first boss and your mentor in this small instant. There are issues ahead that conflict with this, but this is the impression I got when I was quite literally taken of by this raccoon.

Also, a thousand bells a week? That's a pretty cheap rent. Later on he doesn't even ask you for due dates, but lets you go wild about the town and pay when you can.

I can see why some people utterly despise Tom Nook, but I don't like to hate things mindlessly if they happen to inconvenience me.  The character inconveniences themselves, unfairly so before the game even starts, but it's this simple fact that allows the character to grow a relationship with Nook, hateful or otherwise, that allows him to teach the player how Animal Crossing is meant to be played.

And after that the player is free to play as they see fit. I went crazy, spending my down doing one specific chore like digging for fossils or helping out my animal friends. Sometimes I went overboard on paying Tom because I had the drive to make some bells to fix up my place.

So there. My impression of Tom at the beginning of Animal Crossing is unpopular, but I find that it's coinciding with the developer's intentions as well as the design of the game. What happens later makes this vision of Tom Nook as a rude, yet generous, opportunist who cleverly instructs the player by having them work for him so that they can survive on their own shatter.

That's for another day. First I have to go back to town and see what has become of the village I abandoned months ago.

-Fore