stellery
Junior Member
Hi all!
Since I couldn't find anyone reporting this issue at the time I completed the issue, I decided to do some more research to get to the bottom of this. Apologies for the wall of text but I love balloon gift hunting and have dedicated a huge portion of my game play to it since New Horizons launched. TLDR at the bottom!
On 3/26, I received the 300 balloons popped achievement for "It's Raining Treasure". After I received this achievement, I started to notice balloon gifts have completely stopped spawning for my character. At first, I chalked this up to bad RNG and stopped playing for the night. On 3/27, I ran around my island continuously but did not see/hear any balloons so this caused me to start to think this might not just be bad luck on my part.
I've chatted with friends and other players on discord to confirm they are still encountering balloon spawns but none of them have completed the "It's Raining Treasures" for 300 balloons.
I did some additional testing based on my theory that it's a bug/glitch linked to the 300 balloons shot achievement per character. I created a second profile on my Switch to enable local co-op and a new resident. I logged in with the new secondary resident and walked around the beaches to wait for the balloons and can confirm the balloon gifts started to show up once again.
I used the "Call Resident" feature on my NookPhone to get my main character into the game. What I discovered was the balloons will continue to spawn ONLY IF I am controlling my secondary character who does not have the achievement completed.
My current work around to hunt for balloon gifts is to control my secondary character while my main character tags along behind them. As you can see, this work around is incredibly clunky and I much prefer staying on my main character while I play the game.
I'd love to hear from anyone who also has the achievement about your experiences and whether or not you've also stopped having balloons spawn on your islands.
TLDR;
Related Issues
I also shared my findings on various other channels to boost signal and raise awarness. Other players confirmed this has happened to them after completing the achievement. Link to my posts to other channels below!
Twitter Link: https://twitter.com/IslaMousse/status/1244732198718263296
Reddit Post: https://www.reddit.com/r/ac_newhori...balloon_gifts_not_spawning_after_its_raining/
Nintendo Support Forums: https://en-americas-support.nintendo.com/app/social/questions/detail/kw/*/qid/93055
GameFAQs: https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/248082-animal-crossing-new-horizons/78523182
UPDATE 3/28: I called Nintendo Support to let them know about the error. The representative acknowledged this is not in their current database of known bugs/errors so they will make a note to pass this along to the appropriate parties.
I highly recommend anyone who is currently experiencing this bug or is concerned this will affect them in the future to call Nintendo's customer service number @ 1 (800) 255-3700 (press 1 at the automated menu for Nintendo Switch and then press 0 to get connected to a live agent).
The very helpful live agent told me that if more people report the issue, the bug/glitch will be put higher up in the priority for the development team to review. The call took less than 10 minutes out of my day and if it leads to a faster patch turnaround time, it's definitely worth the effort!
Since I couldn't find anyone reporting this issue at the time I completed the issue, I decided to do some more research to get to the bottom of this. Apologies for the wall of text but I love balloon gift hunting and have dedicated a huge portion of my game play to it since New Horizons launched. TLDR at the bottom!
On 3/26, I received the 300 balloons popped achievement for "It's Raining Treasure". After I received this achievement, I started to notice balloon gifts have completely stopped spawning for my character. At first, I chalked this up to bad RNG and stopped playing for the night. On 3/27, I ran around my island continuously but did not see/hear any balloons so this caused me to start to think this might not just be bad luck on my part.
I've chatted with friends and other players on discord to confirm they are still encountering balloon spawns but none of them have completed the "It's Raining Treasures" for 300 balloons.
I did some additional testing based on my theory that it's a bug/glitch linked to the 300 balloons shot achievement per character. I created a second profile on my Switch to enable local co-op and a new resident. I logged in with the new secondary resident and walked around the beaches to wait for the balloons and can confirm the balloon gifts started to show up once again.
I used the "Call Resident" feature on my NookPhone to get my main character into the game. What I discovered was the balloons will continue to spawn ONLY IF I am controlling my secondary character who does not have the achievement completed.
My current work around to hunt for balloon gifts is to control my secondary character while my main character tags along behind them. As you can see, this work around is incredibly clunky and I much prefer staying on my main character while I play the game.
I'd love to hear from anyone who also has the achievement about your experiences and whether or not you've also stopped having balloons spawn on your islands.
TLDR;
- Got achievement for popping 300 balloons.
- No balloons spawning after receiving achievement.
- Created second profile on the Switch to add another resident.
- Balloon gifts **will** spawn if controlling secondary character without achievement.
- Balloon gifts **will not** spawn if controlling main character with achievement.
- Current work around to hunt for balloon gifts is play second character.
Related Issues
- No golden slingshot DIY recipe.
- With the cherry blossom event coming up in April, players with achievement won't be able to pop balloons for the seasonal recipes.
- Players with achievement won't be able to complete Nook Miles+ goals relating to popping balloons; especially the 2x and 5x multipliers.
I also shared my findings on various other channels to boost signal and raise awarness. Other players confirmed this has happened to them after completing the achievement. Link to my posts to other channels below!
Twitter Link: https://twitter.com/IslaMousse/status/1244732198718263296
Reddit Post: https://www.reddit.com/r/ac_newhori...balloon_gifts_not_spawning_after_its_raining/
Nintendo Support Forums: https://en-americas-support.nintendo.com/app/social/questions/detail/kw/*/qid/93055
GameFAQs: https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/248082-animal-crossing-new-horizons/78523182
UPDATE 3/28: I called Nintendo Support to let them know about the error. The representative acknowledged this is not in their current database of known bugs/errors so they will make a note to pass this along to the appropriate parties.
I highly recommend anyone who is currently experiencing this bug or is concerned this will affect them in the future to call Nintendo's customer service number @ 1 (800) 255-3700 (press 1 at the automated menu for Nintendo Switch and then press 0 to get connected to a live agent).
The very helpful live agent told me that if more people report the issue, the bug/glitch will be put higher up in the priority for the development team to review. The call took less than 10 minutes out of my day and if it leads to a faster patch turnaround time, it's definitely worth the effort!
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