Thanks to the Dodo Airlines feature in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, a booming black market for in-game trading has grown Animal Crossing Items exponentially since Nintendo released the title in March. Players trade furniture, DIYS, villagers, materials, flowers, and NPC visits for in-game currency -- or sometimes, real money. However, several controversies have cropped up among New Horizons traders. The latest involves villager gifts.

There are several cons to trading with strangers online, namely the potential for being scammed. Some players have begun complaining about a new type of "scam," however, which actually involves a core mechanic of the game.

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Gifted Vs. Ungifted.

To develop deeper relationships with villagers in New Horizons, players need to gift them furniture and clothing. To reach maximum friendship and receive a highly-coveted framed villager photo, players need to give several presents. For many players, this is the point at which they feel content letting a villager move away from their island.

At this point, they may put an offering on the Animal Crossing black market, for Bells or Nook Miles Tickets -- the latter can be used to hunt for someone new.

"Gifted" villagers maintain any clothing they've been given, as well as the catchphrase given to them by the player. "Ungifted" villagers, on the other hand, are still in their "original" form -- they are the same as one would get from inviting a camper via Amiibo or going island-hopping.

False Advertising.

New Horizons traders on the receiving end are mad that they’re receiving gifted villagers when they expect one who's ungifted. Some players believe that because these villagers have been gifted, it ruins their original aesthetic or style.

When posting a villager on a trading server, the default title is just the villager’s name. Traders have to add "gifted" or "ungifted" as an extra tag, which some of them may miss or choose not to do. Unfortunately, this comes down to being mostly a communication issue -- both the trader with the villager and the trader who wants to adopt should clarify before committing to an exchange. Traders can also refine their searches when hunting for ungifted villagers.

It’s odd for a player to not gift a villager anything, so to expect ungifted villagers when not otherwise listed, is a bit much. Much of the controversy seems to surround villagers without Amiibo, like Raymond -- whom some players have spent hundreds of actual dollars to get on their island.

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Talking to Isabelle.

Isabelle is much more than just a pretty face who gives players daily updates. When talking to her in Resident Services, players can complain about a villager on the island. They can ask her to talk to a villager about their inappropriate language or clothing -- which resets catchphrases and outfits.

In the end, the game itself has a built-in mechanic to remove unwanted clothing and catchphrases from villagers. This makes the gifted and ungifted controversy quite ridiculous when there has been a fix from the start.

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