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Just a thought on the rants and state of this forum (not a rant :) )

Fridaynightcatlady

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Before I start, I just want to clarify that none of what I write is meant to be dismissive of other people's feelings and complaints about the game.

It seems to me like every day I log into this forum, I see more and more threads piling up of complaints and rants towards New Horizons. I'm not here to write this as a form of 'policing' those threads or those users. You're completely entitled to your opinions and I absolutely recognize the flaws of the game. I personally really like and enjoy New Horizons. I've been an Animal Crossing fan since I discovered the GCN game when I was 9. It was, quite literally, a happy accident to have stumbled upon such a great game. I've seen the series evolve and even fall flat a couple of times. I've cringed at some of their spinoffs, bought the merch and even watched the film. I've tried to organize my thoughts in the following way,

1. I know I'll probably get a lot of heat for this, but I don't agree with the statement that a game should play the way a player wants it to play. I believe video games, as many other mediums and creations of its own, develop a sense of direction addressed by their creators. Animal Crossing has always presented itself with a 'philosophy', if you will. That you should be patient, take it slow every day, appreciate its mundanity. It does so, I believe, in a number of ways: by doing mundane daily tasks such as catching bugs or fish, chatting up with your villagers and sometimes it's even more drastic, like punishing you for running over your grass instead of walking around. I mean, literally, the first game - nostalgia and all - was pretty much that: catch fish/bugs, chat up neighbors, expand Nooks and you're pretty much set (and yet, we all seem to love it so much, because the formula works for some reason! Or at least, it did). This game has a history of punishing its players for going further than they should (time traveling, resetting, etc). I believe creators or developers, should absolutely brand their game in whatever direction they think it should go. New Horizons allows you to break those rules a bit.

2. I think a staple of Animal Crossing games have also been this feeling of "nothingness". So I'm always a bit puzzled to why people seem so eager to rush through things in NH. If anything, previous games (except NL) were just as slow because those games didn't have any progression to begin with. NL was probably unlike any other AC game, because it provided the player with a lot more 'agency' and 'power' over things and in a more immediate manner. In a way, it broke the AC 'philosophy', if you will. Which brings me to another point...

3. I feel the reason that a lot of people find NH underwhelming is because they're obsessively comparing it to New Leaf. I could absolutely be wrong about this, but I'm under the impression that there must be a lot of folks around here that must've started off their AC series with NL. To be fair, that's a huge starting point in the series, because NL proved to be quite a jump in the franchise (and probably the biggest leap, up until NH). Imo, the transition between GCN and WW was okay, considering how we'd now be able to play online, and WW to CF was incredibly underwhelming because we basically got an updated WW with better graphics and a few more features (also, it was the worst rated AC in the series and the game with the lowest sales). So it also makes sense that the AC team decided to go "all in" with NL, and frankly, it worked. Animal Crossing became considerably more popular with NL. I believe AC becamse as beloved as it is now because of NL. We even got 2 spinoff games for the same reason and Isabelle for Smash. NL, as I said, turned the tables entirely because it changed a lot of the things in the game (being mayor, doing public projects, deciding on which buildings you'd want in your town, etc).

4. Part of the reason why I think players dislike NH is because, unlike NL, NH is going back to what Animal Crossing used to be (or at least, partly). I think the creators went back to GCN and WW on its way to develop NH, and it shows, considering how many loving features got brought back from the past! (glow in the dark, message in a bottle, acres, 3-level-hills, etc). It's also brought back several features from NL, there's no denying that, but in its core, NH is an hommage to golden days of Animal Crossing. I don't wanna be 'that guy', but sometimes I wonder what constitutes this 'hunger' from people for immediacy and to get everything they wanted in a game right away. I think we've also been spoiled in that regard.

I also want to say that I don't mean to tell anyone how they should play their game, but, in many ways, to be humble and to think and look back to what Animal Crossing has always been. You may be looking back to its immediate predecessor, but Animal Crossing has an entire history going back as far (and more considering the 64 game) as 2001.
I enjoy NH, I love playing - even bits (though I've been playing hours if I'm being honest) - of the game. I do believe updated will come with more content, but if they don't, I will still enjoy the game fully.
 
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This is a really great post. I can tell you put a lot of time and effort into typing all of this out. I am one of those people who started my animal crossing adventures on New Leaf. I was aware of the series I think from it's beginning (gamecube?), but didn't actually get into it until New Leaf. That being said, I guess I'm one of the weird ones because I enjoy the slower pace of these games. I'm not trying to rush and "beat the game". I never want this beautiful experience to end. I don't want to run out of things to do. I enjoy taking things easy day by day and when I run out of things to do for that day I just turn the game off and go do something else, knowing that I have tomorrow to look forward to that will bring more things to me.
 
Part of the problem is the fact that Nintendo made this game more "alive", in the sense that we don't have access to all of it yet. They are rolling things out through updates. That means we don't know what's all going to be available. Even TTers can't find it all out. That makes some people upset because they don't know if something is gone for good, or if it might become available in the future in an update. And even if it DOES become available in an update, they have to wait for it. When some people are bored thanks to the world situation and staying home, some people are playing Animal Crossing way more than they might normally and are impatient.
 
comparing new horizons to older games to credit new horizons and then to turn around and say it’s bad to compare new horizons to new leaf to say it’s bad lacks self awareness imo

‘following a philosophy’ just isn’t a strong argument and to say we only dislike new horizons because of new leaf is extremely reductive
 
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comparing new horizons to older games to credit new horizons and then to turn around and say it’s bad to compare new horizons to new leaf to say it’s bad lacks self awareness imo

‘following a philosophy’ just isn’t a strong argument and to say we only like dislike new horizons because of new leaf is extremely reductive

Imo, most rants and complaints in here are based on comparisons with NL, though.
 
I mean I have criticized the game in some ways but people are allowed to compare New Horizons to New Leaf for many reasons, because of the cut content some are upset because these should've been included in the game like (Brewster, paintings, gyroids) and this is because the developers have been working on this game for many years since around 2013 from what I understand so 7 years to make a new switch game that feels a bit incomplete and the fact we pay 60$ for a game it's absolutely fine to criticize the game.
 
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Imo, most rants and complaints in here are based on comparisons with NL, though.

didn’t say they weren’t most complaints, just that it’s not _the_ reason people are upset. new leaf could never have happened and we’d still have the same complaints, but referencing new leaf to highlight the untapped potential is the easiest option
 
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New Leaf was also my first AC and I must admit, there is a lot that I find myself comparing to NL. BUT! I still absolutely love this game and I can't put it down, despite any features that I miss from NL not being present (yet). And I'm a happier person for just enjoying the game for what it aims to be rather than be upset at what it isn't, and I'd rather just be happy and enjoy it :) I don't wanna be sad or disappointed. ^_^ There are some development choices that I strongly question or disagree with from the creators, but at the same time, I'm lucky that I am unaffected by those choices, like having 1 island per Switch (I have my own Switch). But it does make me feel badly for other players and I understand those complaints for sure.
 
A note about #2: The world is super strange right now. People can't go outside, hang out with their friends, or even go to school.
I totally understand people wanting to immerse themselves in Animal Crossing for hours and even speed up their process.
When I was in middle school, I always came home from school, checked on my villagers in Wild World, and then played outside. That isn't the case for now.
 
A note about #2: The world is super strange right now. People can't go outside, hang out with their friends, or even go to school.
I totally understand people wanting to immerse themselves in Animal Crossing for hours and even speed up their process.
When I was in middle school, I always came home from school, checked on my villagers in Wild World, and then played outside. That isn't the case for now.

Hey, you're absolutely right! I think I should also consider the context and how it's making us feel. Thank you for bringing it up :)
 
I really like new horizons and I loved the bottle mail as a kid so I'm so glad they found a way to bring it back, also they gave us customization to the max which I appreciate, new leaf was an amazing game but I can't pick a favorite as I also love wild world and the original, I got into it with wild world as a kid and the. Got the GameCube version I also got city folk which I barely played because honestly it just wasn't made for the wii, the controls were awful. But I love the throwbacks in this game as well as giving us a lot of the stuff people wanted after new leaf, I think it's absolutely great and I have a feeling it will recieve multiple big updates
I do miss some of the iconic things about animal crossing though such as gyroids, and pitfall seeds are much rarer, and many of the characters seem to be missing (ahem DIGBY MY BBY WHERE YOU AT)
 
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I love love LOVE this post and agree with your points. I'm honestly saddened to see the amount of negative posts made about the game. I feel like it makes others feel bad and I don't think the points they make are really fair sometimes. The rants and whatnot are getting stale to me and I'm tired of seeing "horrible music" and "anyone else dislike this" all the time. The game has so much to come and it is unfair to judge so hard already. They confirmed updates and that's more than the other games. Thanks for the positivity, I hope it continues!


Edit: I totally understand that people aren't very hopeful about the events but I think we should maybe try to sit on the fence! I'm more just sad about the very intentionally negative/rude thread titles. I guess I'm just too optimistic and that sort of stuff makes me sad but it's okay! I understand disappointment/concern! Just wish people were less aggressive about it!
Have a nice day everyone!
 
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comparing new horizons to older games to credit new horizons and then to turn around and say it’s bad to compare new horizons to new leaf to say it’s bad lacks self awareness imo

‘following a philosophy’ just isn’t a strong argument and to say we only dislike new horizons because of new leaf is extremely reductive

Exactly. Even if you don't compare it to New Leaf, there are still major issues with the game. And everyone has way too much faith in these updates. Nintendo only specified it was for holidays. Personally, I don't find the thinking of "Oh I just KNOW that they are going to release the basic features that should've been there in the first place later on via updates. They are obviously doing it to stop those dirty TTers!" to even be logical. I don't feel like repeating myself over and over, so if you want to see my reasoning, just go find one of my many posts explaining why I don't believe this is the most logical conclusion to be drawn.
 
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my biggest issue is people complaining about what we have and don’t have when Nintendo has said that they’re going to be updating the game AS WELL as adding new events, which sounds to me that the events aren’t the only things that will be added in updates. the game has been officially released for literally 8 days, give it time lmao. they’ve been working on it for years, i highly doubt what we have in the first week or so is all they plan on including, whether you time travel or not. and to everyone complaining about stuff like the music...i hate to break this to you man but you’re not going to like the soundtrack in every game you play and music is highly subjective lol if it’s a huge dealbreaker for you, mute it and open an acnl hourly vid on youtube while you play.

i also feel that people on this forum forget that this forum is a Very Small portion of the entire player base and tend to come off kind of entitled when they make their complaints.
 
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my biggest issue is people complaining about what we have and don’t have when Nintendo has said that they’re going to be updating the game AS WELL as adding new events, which sounds to me that the events aren’t the only things that will be added in updates. the game has been officially released for literally 8 days, give it time lmao. they’ve been working on it for years, i highly doubt what we have in the first week or so is all they plan on including, whether you time travel or not. and to everyone complaining about stuff like the music...i hate to break this to you man but you’re not going to like the soundtrack in every game you play and music is highly subjective lol if it’s a huge dealbreaker for you, mute it and open an acnl hourly vid on youtube while you play.

i also feel that people on this forum forget that this forum is a Very Small portion of the entire player base and tend to come off kind of entitled when they make their complaints.

idk why people are stanning updates we know nothing about, but go off. i just don’t feel as if i can feel a certain way on a whim

even if it is early to be complaining, what’s wrong with a bit of a rant? it’s doing far more bad than good to tell people they can’t feel a certain way which i’ve seen nobody complaining about the game do to people who aren’t

“you don’t like the music go cry about it” are we not allowed to dislike music and talk about it lmao

it’s entitled the way you feel as if the people complaining shouldn’t feel the way that they do
 
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idk why people are stanning updates we know nothing about, but go off. i just don’t feel as if i can feel a certain way on a whim

even if it is early to be complaining, what’s wrong with a bit of a rant? it’s doing far more bad than good to tell people they can’t feel a certain way which i’ve seen nobody complaining about the game do to people who aren’t

“you don’t like the music go cry about it” are we not allowed to dislike music and talk about it lmao

it’s entitled the way you feel as if the people complaining shouldn’t feel the way that they do

Exactly. I have yet to see any of "complainers" (the consensus on this site seems to be that a "complainer" is anyone who views the game as anything less than perfection or doesn't have blind faith in updates fixing every tiny little flaw with the game) tell someone who is over-optimistic that they aren't allowed to have their opinions. But I have seen plenty of people put down the "complainers" for having a differing opinion. Notice how many of these people lurk the complaint threads and then come at others for complaining when they know it's a freaking COMPLAINT THREAD (for crying out loud). I don't see the so-called "complainers" griping about others having different opinions than themselves on the appreciation threads. Just some food for thought...

But of course it's the so-called "complainers" who are made out to be "entitled," "hostile," and "toxic."
 
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You made some really good points. Honestly, I've played all the games and I'm still enjoying it. People compare the new games to the old games, but it's hard to replicate those same feelings because for starters:

A lot of people who played Animal Crossing growing up are adults now, so games like this feel different just because you're older. I'm a 23 year old woman now, I started playing AC at about 13 years old. Life is different at different ages, and so the way you perceive video games you enjoyed also jive with your past memories as a child. I see why people feel the ways they do, but I think a lot comes from the fact that the same feeling just doesn't exist anymore.

I'm not dismissing the fact that the game does need more content, either. They have bushes in the museum and by your house but not in the game, a little weird to me. But that's all. I like your post.
 
I just did the most messed up thing.

I decided not to get the game and rejected my copy when it arrived.
I then sold my ACNH edition switch.

Then started to regret it.

Been looking for ANY switch for sale for a week, and nothing under $1000 as ALL STORES are out of stock.

I found a really decent seller on Ebay who sold me their unopened ACNH edition switch for about $180 more than what I paid for mine, but considering people are selling them for $1500+, I'm lucky.

So I've come full circle. (Should have it next week.)

So apart from how much I hate what they've taken out, I went through all of that, just to get it again. LOL

Praying they add bushes and furniture sets back!
 
I only read the orifinal posts and not the replies yet, but I’d like to add my opinion.
I think one of the best things about animal crossing is that it allows for so many different play styles. I’m playing NH with a bunch of friends and we all have very different play styles. We help each other out and we grow as a team, but you can play on your own, go as fast ir slow as you want, focus on whatever activities you prefer, etc. I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again: there’s no wrong way to play animal crossing.

Either way, I appreciate your point of view and your lack of hostility. Too many people have been getting mad at others for not playing the way that they do.
 
while i am a believer that people can play however they want to because it's their town - it is frustrating to see so many people upset about not being able to do everything from the jump. we waited how many years for this game? - i plan on thoroughly enjoying it and experiencing all of the new things, and old, to its fullest extent. in new leaf, people were upset that there were too many restrictions. in new horizon, people are overwhelmed by the amount of things we can do. i know that it's sad to see some old things potentially forever gone, but i think that that just makes the other games special, right? new leaf was my first ac game, but wild world was the first ac game i watched my cousin play. i think each one has its own flavour, and (to me) it would be silly to expect them to be all included and condensed into new horizon.

of course, everyone is entitled to their own opinion. i think it's cool to read through and see the differing ones. maybe we can gain a little alternate perspective :)
 
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