My love/hate relationship with this game (as a day one player from 2020)

[VanitasFan26]

When I first got this game back in 2020 the day that it came out (March 20th) I had no idea what to even expect. All I remember was I was greeted by Timmy and Tommy then picking a map layout for the island. I had no idea what I was even doing. The idea was that I wanted to make an island based around Kingdom Hearts but the original idea I had was that I wanted to name it "Kingdom" but that didn't work so I choose the name "Traverse" instead. The name is a reference to the world of "Traverse Town" from Kingdom Hearts 1. I always liked that area and the music so thats why I decided to go with it.

I didn't have many friends going into this island. It was just me. I was just doing a lot of stuff because truth be told I was new to Animal Crossing and know nothing about what it had to offer. So I was just making helping out Tom Nook making this strange desert island (honestly I knew that he would fool me) but I had to pay a lot of bells. At the time I did not know how to earn them. I went around catching fish and bugs the first time after learning how to craft a Fishing Rod then a Net. I give them to Timmy to sell and I was able to make bells. After a while blathers came (thank god because the fishes and bugs were pilling up), Nook's shop was opened, Able Sisters was built, I had 10 villagers who were Antonio, Rocket, Patty, Skye, Charlise, Dobie, Anabelle, Eugene, Shari, and Nate. Then KK slider showed up and I was given the app to make my island the way I wanted so thats when I started to make it.

Of course I was struggling to make idea of what I want my island to be. I was just going around making cliffs and rivers because I had no idea what else to think of. My island was in a complete mess I had trees cluttered everywhere, homes were scattered, and so many areas were empty. I was losing my mind because I had no idea how to make a good island. I go and see other people's islands and I did take inspiration from them. Eventually I made my island better thanks to them but then around May 2020 is when I started to feel unhappy with my island. So I decided to start over and go back to square one. Eventually I made it how I picture in my head that stood out. As the months went by I began tearing down my island and remaking from the way I see it. By October 2020 it was fully completed. By now most of the villagers I originally had were gone. I payed no attention to them because I had been so busy terraforming. It made me feel bad. I had new villagers at the moment that replaced them, they are Raymond, Judy, Audie, and Cherry. They were really nice and some of the other 6 villagers I let random ones in and let them go.

Then I started feeling depressed. It was by then some of the friends I made while I was still in the process of making my island turned on me. The first one decided to ghost me when I asked them to help me clean out the flowers since they were cluttered on my island. I remember just feeling so left alone. Next day I talked to them to find out what happened they said they were too busy and promise to show up the next day. I waited on that next day and they never showed up. I remember feeling sad and angry about it. I confronted them and the last thing they said to me was "whatever dude, you're blowing this out of portion and you are always dragging me down" that was the straw that brock the camels back so I decided to remove and block that person. Things didn't get much better. Some the friends I made started to use me just to get stuff out of me. They would ignore me whenever I try to talk to them and they would always ask me if I have anything for them. It just made me look like a tool. I had to end up removing friends because I felt manipulated, ghosted, backstabbed, and just helpless that people would treat me like this.

However, this one friend I had since June 2020 decided to stick by my side and realize that she was the only one who cared for me. I felt happy that she wasn't like those other friends who did that to me. I felt happy. As time went on we were doing trades with each other, but then around November 2020 this happened. My friend was asking me for a Cute Red Bed. I said "Okay but you have to give me 99,000 bells" she was upset and started to yell me because I was treating her like "Profit" and "not a friend". I remember just feeling so bad about it that I had to apologize about it. She didn't message me back. It was then that I started to beat myself for something stupid I said. The next day we had a talk and we both agreed that trading between us was a big mistake that almost ended the friendship so we decided to put an end to it. We remained friends since then and we still had each others back.

To this day I have mixed feelings on Traverse. On one hand I should be proud that I made something to my liking but at the same time I had some not so good experiences with other people, but at the end the day its an island that holds a place in my heart of all the memories I had. I don't know why I always have conflicting thoughts whenever I play this game. On one hand it can be a relaxing experience when playing slowly, but most of the times whenever I feel the need to change something on my island that doesn't right. As soon as I go back to Terraforming it feels more like chore than actually trying to enjoy yourself. I would block off my villagers from even entering places, and then start with the terraforming the area. After like 5 hours I am done, but then I feel so tired and worn out that I just call it quits for the day.

I keep wondering "Why do I keep doing this to myself?" maybe its just because nothing much has happened since last year and my villagers are still talking like mindless robots. I am trying to find a reason to enjoy myself on my island, but now its really starting to become mentally draining for me, because I force myself to try and look for stuff to do. There is a moment when all you're doing is basically relaxing, but then its like you want to feel like you want to have fun and then feel great about it. I am so lost right now, maybe I should retire from this island, but then again I am stopping myself from even getting rid of the island I had for the longest time. I feel like I need help, but I am too much of a scared person to even ask for help, because I would feel so uncomfortable.

Eventually when I got a 2nd switch things started to change fore the better. This is something I've been wanting to do for the longest time, but for the longest time I've been my island Traverse for the longest time feel like its time for me to move on. The island of Traverse was an interesting experience. When I started off, I didn't know what I was doing. I had no idea what to do stuff and I over stressed myself trying to figure out how to design Traverse. I did visit other people's islands for Inspiration and truth be told I was impressed with their island, but it made me hate how Traverse looks. Over a year I've made it my goal to make Traverse the best island it can be, but it only just made me burned myself out.

Then there was times where I went to a trading site to get the stuff I want, but I knew at that point it spoiled me and caused me to have trust issues when making friends. Some people wanted to be friend, but then I come to find out that they only used me to get stuff out of me and then they stopped talking to me. Even today when I tried to talk to my friends they either have forgotten about me or they just don't seem to want to talk to me anymore. Its been a rough Journey, but for it was for the better to delete the island and start over with a brand new one.

After deleting Traverse for good I decided to start over fresh again. I got my other island Twilight to transfer all of my items and back to this island so that way I would start. This project was started back in May 22nd, 2021 after I deleted Traverse. I called this island "Destiny" named after Destiny Islands from Kingdom Hearts 1. I decided that I didn't want to make a replica of that island from that game, I just wanted to make an island that fits my personality and is something that I created from my imagination.

I must say I am so proud of myself for making this island. I didn't care what others think of it and I don't care if its the best or worst island of all time. I am just glad that I made it out to how I wanted it to be. It will be here to stay and there are no plans on getting rid of it anytime soon. Its so much better than Traverse and this was what I wanted it to look like from the very beginning. So either way that was my Journey on building Destiny. I am glad to have learned so much from last year and now I can finally chill and relax to enjoy my time.

So yeah thats how its been for me with this game. I do not hate the game, I actually do like it when it does click with me again, but other times it does that, but I've learned that when that happens its best to take a break from the game and come back with a refreshed mindset.

 

[Moritz]

I'm glad to see you're enjoying the game again and have an island youre proud of.
The most important thing in the game is that you make what suits you. Forget about anyone else, they don't play on your island.
The only person who matters when playing this game, is the person playing it (assuming you're not trading lol)

When it comes to interacting with others in the game, I would try to put the past behind you when it comes to one off interactions on this site.
The people here have never let me down.
And while I'm personally pretty antisocial so haven't made any real friends here, I have some very great acquaintances that I trust fully.
Like @WaileaNoRei and @Roxxy are truly wonderful people
And when it comes to trades @LittleMissPanda @BalloonFight and @Firesquids will never ever let you down.

For me personally, this game is the best animal crossing by far. Sure there are things that I miss from older games. I wish there was more I could do with my villagers. I wish there was more to do with friends. But I still play this game daily, a year and a half later. And that's incredible. I've never had a game that lasted so long for me.
I loved new leaf so much that I got the new horizons edition switch for its launch, and I never managed to play that for more than 4 months before resetting it. And I thought 4 months of daily play was insanely good.

 

[peachycrossing9]

Firstly, welcome back it's nice to see you return

Secondly, it really sucks to hear that people have treated you like that in the past and used you just to get things from you in the game. If they were actual friends, they wouldn't have treated you that way in the first place, so I think it's a good thing you stopped talking to them. If you ever want to do more trading though, there are heaps of great, reliable people on these forums like @Moritz mentioned above I hope all those bad experiences you had in the past hasn't put you off trading completely.

Your island should be whatever you want it to be. Everybody's islands are different and unique in their own way. I used to suffer with comparing my island to other peoples, and how I always felt like someone else's island looked so much better than mine. I slowly started to get past that though, and now I don't care at all. I still love visiting dream addresses and admiring people's talent, and what they can do with the tools provided, but I don't compare anymore. No two islands should be the same, that would be boring

I can understand the love/hate relationship with this game as well. I have had my fair share of burnouts and breaks. I only really started to feel super motivated and inspired again when I reset my island for the first time since getting the game on release day. It was a nice fresh, new start and ever since I restarted back in July, I have been going non-stop with creating my new island. I would say I am now 50% done and I can't wait till it's fully finished.

 

[Snek]

I am a player from Day One. I loved NL so much that I got NH as soon as it came out. I was expecting NH to be NL but improved with better graphics. That was never the case but I've enjoyed playing this game and creating my own island. Terrafroming was a cool idea, and many players on here love it, but for me wasn't worth the time. The lack of updates right now is stressful. Many new things we thought they would implement haven't come to pass (Brewster, other vegetables, etc). So instead of abandoning the game, I decided to renovate my whole island! Now, its been addicting. I have new, fresh ideas that I want for my island and villagers. The beautiful thing about NH is that it is a fantastic game, a sandbox of creativity if you're willing to give it a chance. If you're not satisfied with your island, try something different! If you feel you're "finished" with your island, try to give yourself a different goal. Your island doesn't have to be "perfect". If you have a goal like that of course you're going to feel irritated with the game. Since terraforming isn't your thing, try something else with the layout that you already have. I haven't terraformed in a long time and I'm still happily playing.

 

[VanitasFan26]

Firstly, welcome back it's nice to see you return

Yeah I'm back its been a long while.

 

[Xara]

i’m really sorry that your former friends treated you that way; it’s not fun to be used or stood up, even if it is just a game. you weren’t blowing things out of proportion at all. i’m happy to hear that you were able to patch things up with your friend, though!

i’m so glad that you’re having fun with and enjoying your new island! i find that a fresh start really can be the best way to fix burnout and frustration at times, especially since you know more now than you did when you created traverse. and like you said, all that’s important is whether or not you like your island; as long as you’re happy with it, then that’s all that really matters. your plan to take a break if you ever become frustrated again is definitely a good one as well.

i hope you continue to have fun with destiny! it sounds like a lovely island.

 

[Croconaw]

I’m a day one player. I started playing a few days after release because the game was sold out everywhere. I had to order the game online and wait for it in the mail.

I’m sorry you had some bad experiences with the game. Although some people haven’t had those types of experience, that doesn’t mean they don’t happen. I saw your post in the other thread, and I don’t believe people are trying to dismiss your bad experiences. Bad things happen, and that’s just part of life. I can’t think of a situation in which bad things never happen. I don’t think they’re trying to say you’re lying or that bad things don’t happen though.

You can focus on the good things that happen and that will improve your experience. You can choose to think of the positive experiences or the negative. One will make you happy and one will not. I’m glad you are enjoying your second island though! It seems that you’re more attached to your second island. I’m glad you’re happy with it and doing what you want with it. That’s the best way to play Animal Crossing.