Do you think the group mechanic should be removed next game?

[-Apples-]

I say that's a yes. I mean it's very frustrating that I have to time travel back and forth until I get some item I want, but they almost never sell what I want while they sell almost the same stuff everyday. It's not worth my time traveling back and forth just to see the same items.

Good thing I got my catalog done, but this is an old experience that I don't want to see happen next game.

The first time I learned about this was when I joined GameFAQs and started a thread about some items being nearly impossible to get from the Nookling store. I was missing the lab wall as I already got the other items from the same theme. Timmy and Tommy never sold the lab wall. All they sold were some items I already have or items I don't want to own. So I asked and learned why. All towns have some kind of algorithm where some items are sold more frequently than others. Some items are almost never sold while others are sold very frequently. I thought it was a problem because it's a waste of time. I know I shouldn't hold grudges against past times, but I don't want to see this next game.

I don't care if it's to encourage trading. We still have other things like villager trade or tourism. But I don't like the group mechanic.

What are your opinions on this?

 

[Mayor Em]

Truth be told, I never even knew this feature existed.

I did find it frustrating at times not being able to shop for the items I've wanted in the Nookling's store, but I've never found it to be a very big hassle. Fortunately, this site exists and I'm able to obtain the items I've wanted over time through buying from/trading with users here. In previous games this may have existed as well, but I never minded having an unfinished catalog before.

 

[Leela]

I find this frustrating and I hope it's not featured in the next game. In ACNL, I swear I see the arched window at the Nooklings' store at least once every three days...

 

[Bcat]

I've always found it frustrating that my stores never (or very rarely) sell the things I actually like. :/ However, I do think that trading should still be encouraged. So maybe still have the group mechanic, but make it a little less intense

 

[-Apples-]

Since I forgot to vote, I just voted the first option.

 

[RayOfHope]

Interesting. Never heard of this or thought of it. It seems like it could encourage trading, sure, but I can understand the frustration. I don't like being forced to use wifi/multiplayer in video games, even if it's just to save time and effort getting an item or something.

Maybe that kind of thing should only activate if the game detects that the player frequently uses wifi?

 

[FireNinja1]

I really don't care and I don't think it matters at all. I never check the stores anyway.

 

[Hypno KK]

Yes, it should. I enjoy trading, but it's very frustrating because most people don't really care much about trading reorderable items. More importantly, my game's wifi connection has a lot of issues so I can't trade with at least half of the people I've tried to connect to. If they want to encourage people to trade and make friends, they should also fix that (I know I'm not the only one and Nintendo's suggested fix and game updates don't work).

If you want a lab wall and our towns can connect, I can get one for you! It's one of the items I get a lot in my Nooklings.

 

[Zady]

hmmm...does this apply to villagers too? because my town keeps attracting frogs and anteaters yuck

 

[ShinyYoshi]

I personally get really annoyed by that feature. When you play everyday and check the shops everyday, it really begins to show how little variation of items one town can have.

I just remember visiting another town and going in their shop and thinking, "Wow, I never get these items in my shop. I love this store!" And I asked if I could buy the items and the person didn't care. So I guess all those items were repetitive for them.

 

[-Apples-]

Yes, it should. I enjoy trading, but it's very frustrating because most people don't really care much about trading reorderable items. More importantly, my game's wifi connection has a lot of issues so I can't trade with at least half of the people I've tried to connect to. If they want to encourage people to trade and make friends, they should also fix that (I know I'm not the only one and Nintendo's suggested fix and game updates don't work).

If you want a lab wall and our towns can connect, I can get one for you! It's one of the items I get a lot in my Nooklings.

That was Belcroft I had that issue. I already have one now, thank you.

 

[JCnator]

The group mechanic has always been there since Doubutsu no Mori on the N64 (the first Animal Crossing title ever released on any region), but the rarity isn't too much of an issue because they do appear every once in a while. I remember managing to obtain almost 95% of the items in my Animal Crossing: Wild World town in under a year, even those in the least frequent group designated by my town.

In New Leaf, the group mechanic (assuming it still exists) has become even more problematic, because whenever said item is in a group that your town never seems to stock them, like the lab wall and modern wall in my case. Even if I've been playing the game for a year straight, I couldn't find those items and I'm stuck with the silver badge of catalog, never being able to attain gold.
Since there isn't any FAQ/guide/information about group mechanic, it might be possible that the game will randomly determine the most common Nooklings items instead of dictating which item group is the most common while the town is first created.

I definitely think that should render the rarest items more common. The rarity of certain orderable Nooklings items in New Leaf is ridiculously insane, even for the most hard-boiled completionists.

 

[NewLeaf13]

I thought it was only in ACWW and GCN.

 

[-Apples-]

I thought it was only in ACWW and GCN.

It's in all four games.

I can agree that it's worse in New Leaf. In fact, they're bad to even begin with. But this has been a tradition to AC. The animals moving in front of your house and the current luck system may be some of the new problems in ACNL, but changing this woukd be like changing the requirements to get Nookington's from Wild World to City Folk. It alters a tradition they stuck with, but it sounds like a good idea.

 

[cielyca]

What is the group mechanic?

 

[Chibi.Hoshi]

Yes...its very annoying.
But it will likely be in the next game no doubt. It's been in every game.

 

[-Apples-]

What is the group mechanic?

It's where some items are sold more frequently than others. In the mechanic, there are three groups. Group A, Group B, and Group C. One group has items that are sold very frequently. They're easy to get. Another group are sold somewhat frequently. They may not be as easy, but it's at the right level. The third group is where the items are almost never sold. Each town is designated to one item group. Group A items are the least frequently sold in a Group B town. Group B items are the least frequently sold in a Group C town. Group C items are the least frequently sold in a Group A town.

If you check your stores everyday (including carpets, wallpaper, stationary, and items not sold in the Nookling's), you can figure out what they are selling more or less.

I say it's better off if they remove it, but it could lead to some unexpected drawbacks. Since it was to encourage trading, a game without a group mechanic like this will have slightly emptier servers for the orderable items. The purpose is to make the game more interactive, so that's why some items are never sold as others are always sold.