How do YOU play ACNL?

[IndiaHawker]

With a game like ACNL there's such a variety of play-styles and I'm interested as to how others play. Do you time travel or not? What do you count as cheating for yourself? If you don't TT, do you still buy items/plants/etc off people on here? Do you use others' towns to your advantage (eg today I woke up very late and missed the bug-off and getting my golden net - went to someone's town whose bug-off was still in progress to get my net instead)? Would you consider this cheating? Do you run a second town alongside your first and use it for benefits such as easier to get dreamies, visiting yourself to get the train station upgrade option, etc?

Personally I have a TT and a non-TT town (the non-TT is the main one that I play atm). Can't connect yet as only have one working DS, however that will change next month and I likely intend to use this to my advantage to get the train station upgrades and help get my dreamies (being able to TT in the other town will make transferring them SO much easier - plus I have Bluebear and Stitches in my TT town, yay! And I'll be able to cycle with the town to an extent to hopefully find others). Basically my rules for myself seem to be that everything goes except time-travelling.

Would you consider any of the above cheating, or a very normal method of gameplay? I know it varies person to person, but I'm getting back into this lately and don't want to ruin my old game for myself - trying to work out my boundaries!

Let me know your play-styles and rules, I'm interested to know! Please and thanks

 

[goro]

i tend to play it in short bursts, but that's probably because of my problems with hyperfixation. my friend describes it as "my once every 6 months annual love for animal crossing", aha

i'm a perfectionist by nature, so i try to collect everything i can. i've already completed my fossil and fish exhibits, but i'm going to have to wait until winter to finish bugs and sea creatures.

i don't consider TT really "cheating" per say, but i prefer not to do it. i've only really done it to get items from the catalog and showcase faster and then go right back to normal. i just don't play on days where i don't like the events, for example i haven't played today because of the bug-off (i have like... 3 golden trophies and a silver already). it's just some peoples' style of gameplay and i'm fine with that, i've gotten them to do me some favors before actually...

i don't think i'd ever be able to get a second town; i can only focus on one game at a time, really. i'd get too involved and completely forget about one or the other, plus i only have one 3ds. however that train station upgrade is tempting...

i get bells by beetle farming and selling the clothes my villagers give to me, as i have qr code clothes pretty much 24/7. i use others' towns to my advantage when i can, and i'm currently searching for my dreamies but i'm very very impatient

 

[Hyrule_Crossing]

I used to play a few hours twice a day but I don’t play as much anymore. But I’ll probably get way into it again once AC Switch releases

 

[Journi]

I used TT before, but I realize that I don't like it, it makes me feel weird and I always decide to restart my town. Since now, I got two copies, I can use one for TTing and one for my normal gameplay! It's easy to time travel so I can upgrade my shops so I can shampoodle for myself and relying on someone else to help me!

 

[LadyDestani]

I don't consider anything to be "cheating" in the game. It's all just different play styles and preferences.

Personally, I don't really time travel. I keep my 3DS set a few hours ahead because I usually play at night and I don't mind adjusting the time within the same day for events or certain fish/bugs that spawn outside of my normal play time. But I always play in sequential order, meaning if I need to catch a fish in the morning, I'll move the time back before I start for the day, then if I want to catch bugs at night I'll log off and move the time forward again. The game never registers me as a time traveler this way, and I don't do it very often anyway.

I play daily and set it as a personal goal to chat with each villager every day.

I'm a solo player so I don't use the multiplayer functions often. The only items I've traded for are the Japanese exclusive items that I had no way of obtaining on my own. I'm not opposed to using other players and towns to my benefit; I'm just not a people person so I avoid contact as much as possible. I'm planning on getting a 2nd cartridge for either myself or my husband so I can get things like the train station upgrade and streetpass stuff.

 

[SnakeEater]

I do tend to time travel since I'm impatient. I've also used a save editor to move houses, so I guess my save is that of a filthy cheater.

 

[IndiaHawker]

I used TT before, but I realize that I don't like it, it makes me feel weird and I always decide to restart my town. Since now, I got two copies, I can use one for TTing and one for my normal gameplay! It's easy to time travel so I can upgrade my shops so I can shampoodle for myself and relying on someone else to help me!

Same here, love having a second copy as my TT town as it means I don't get the urge to TT in this game! I love both towns in different ways but I have a special place in my heart for this one

- - - Post Merge - - -

I don't consider anything to be "cheating" in the game. It's all just different play styles and preferences.

Personally, I don't really time travel. I keep my 3DS set a few hours ahead because I usually play at night and I don't mind adjusting the time within the same day for events or certain fish/bugs that spawn outside of my normal play time. But I always play in sequential order, meaning if I need to catch a fish in the morning, I'll move the time back before I start for the day, then if I want to catch bugs at night I'll log off and move the time forward again. The game never registers me as a time traveler this way, and I don't do it very often anyway.

I play daily and set it as a personal goal to chat with each villager every day.

I'm a solo player so I don't use the multiplayer functions often. The only items I've traded for are the Japanese exclusive items that I had no way of obtaining on my own. I'm not opposed to using other players and towns to my benefit; I'm just not a people person so I avoid contact as much as possible. I'm planning on getting a 2nd cartridge for either myself or my husband so I can get things like the train station upgrade and streetpass stuff.

I feel like I possibly did that in the past, where I had my clock set a few hours behind as I tend to play in evening/night. Can't remember if that was when I played this town years back, or on a different town! May possibly do that again at some point as for me that's probably the only real drawback for not TT-ing... may ponder on that one for a while as I hate the fear that I'll regret doing something!

 

[Pansy]

I just play how I want to at the moment. Sometimes I want to time travel to get onto to the next day, and others I just want to chill with my villagers. Everyday is something new.

 

[thatsokayy]

i do time travel, but only up to a week at most. i don't think it's cheating at all- only if you hack bells or limited items n stuff into the game i think it's cheating.
i currently have one 3ds and game but i was planning on getting another cartridge to make a cycling or ghibli themed town. and maybe use it to benefit myself, like having my main town in winter while the side town is in summer?
to get bells i usually hunt beetles on the island or trade tbt on here.

 

[chamsae]

hmm i play casually? i dont really have many goals, i dont bother with paths and making up a layout for my town, i dont obsess over plot placements and the only times i time travel is when i wanna play at night but everything is closed lmao (i dont have a problem with time travelling, i dont see it as something bad etc but i am kinda scared of losing my favourite villagers so i dont rly do it)
when i first started my current town i was very determined to make it perfect - i wanted to lay paths and construct a themed town and get certain villagers but it only lasted a week or two and then i got tired, i guess im one of those people that just play this game in a simple way
i still have some goals like getting badges and saving up money for house expansion but i dont really stress about it. i find that to be the best way for me to play this game, but i know that most people are the exact opposite and want to set extensive goals for themselves which is great but just not for me lol
i traded a few times to get some paintings or fossils and i got two of my favourite and og villagers (fauna and beau!) from a person on tumblr and im considering getting some hybrids but im so bad with watering that id probably kill them really fast lol! im missing one or two fossils so i might look for them here later as well ^^

 

[beetlepurple]

i play every now and then, but the truth is that i only ever go on just to check if dotty wants to move out because i would hate to lose her ;v;'' but when i used to play i would play about every day and play with online friends and do turnip stuff and redesign furniture i guess. i also went on club tortimer alot and tried to make my town as perfect as possible. collecting bugs and fish was also a goal of mine ;w; i should really start playing acnl again

 

[friedegg]

In my town I TT, but not forward. Might be a bit hard to explain, but I only TT back to the day I last played if I missed a few days playing (e.g. If I play on Oct. 20 but then don't play for a week, I will TT back to Oct. 21 so that I don't miss days in my town). I do this so I can look at the furniture available every day (as I'm trying to complete my catalogue), and make sure villagers don't leave me .
I used to have a non-TT town, but I only played it a few times in the year I had it, due to focusing on my main town so often. I definitely will start a non-TT town again once my main town is finished!

 

[Ryumia]

Mhm... Not really sure where to start with this. Whenever I play Animal Crossing New Leaf I do tend to time travel a lot. It is something that I personally like doing whenever I play the game. Though... It can be risky if one isn't careful with time traveling. So... Be careful when time traveling in Animal Crossing New Leaf.

I don't really visit people's town or let others really visit mine sometimes. The most of the time I visit other people's towns or let others visit mine is for item transactions. Reasons why I don't really want people to visit mine is either I'm not done with landscaping my town or I get worried that others my steal my hybrids. So... I more of a solo player when it comes to playing Animal Crossing New Leaf in general.

I wouldn't want to get another town because managing one town in enough for me and I would like to keep that way as much as possible. Managing more than one is too time consuming for me.

I don't consider anything to be "cheating" in the game. It's all just different play styles and preferences.

This is a statement that I do agree with, so I'm going to place it on to my response to the thread.

 

[Dorian]

I have twenty-one towns and I play each once every six days to avoid losing any villagers. So I play four days a week: 5 towns one day, 5 another and then 6 and 6 the other two days. On my off days when I am not searching for any pingers I have 'free play' which I spend landscaping my newer towns. I time-travel because I love it. If I feel like I want it to be summer in the middle of winter, I set my time back. All of my towns are set for different seasons so it's always different. Some of my towns are occult themed, some fairy tale, some food related, some forest themed. I am a caregiver for an Alzheimer's patient, so it's a 24 hour a day job filled with a lot of downtime just watching over them when I'm not feeding, cleaning, washing or changing diapers. It's a very heavy job emotionally taking care of someone who is going through the worst time of their lives. Animal Crossing saves me. And she occasionally enjoys looking at the cute animals on the screen. Each time she sees it is like the first time. But yes, that explains why I have so many towns and why I have time to dedicate to them. I know it's too many at this point and won't be making anymore of them, but I just can't bring myself to delete any of them.

 

[griefseed]

i used to play casually with my first acnl town! but my partner bought me it again after years of being unable to play and now i'm an avid player, playing hours each day... with multiple goals that i didn't have before!! :>

i've never been against TT-ing and still do it for this file but now i have goals for badges, museum completion, perfect town rating goals, and also actually have designs and themes set for each room in my house? which is very fun! as for cheating by utilizing other towns and TT-ing, i don't believe it is, for me personally just because it makes my experience fun!

+ animal crossing is such a soothing game to play but yeah! i do dailies, and TT when i need to and am just diving into the forums here for company/friends and unorderable items!!

 

[Speeny]

After years of not playing NL...due to me losing my cartridge, I’ve started playing again just recently with a digital copy.

Some days I’ll play casually. But I’m time travelling at the moment just so I can get a feel of what I want my town to be like. It gives me the upper hand to work on a steady stream of PWP’s and flower growth.

I’m mainly only time travelling because I’m playing catch up. I doubt I’ll time travel in the Switch game as much but because I don’t want to be playing NL and Switch at the same time it’s a big help. I don’t consider TT cheating. Because the option is there. Seeing as AC is a lifestyle game it’s your choice on how you want to play it.

 

[Alex10]

I think what people consider cheating varies a lot from person to person. Personally, I don?t really have anything that I consider cheating, unless you?re using save editors or hacks to give yourself a bunch of money/items or whatever without any effort, I think that could be pretty safely considered cheating. Although another person could think it?s fine, and that they just use it to make the game more enjoyable for them. If something increases the enjoyment of the game for you and doesn?t hinder it for others, then I don?t see an issue with it!

That being said, I?m definitely not the kind of person to use cheats ever loool. I find it more fun to earn things in the game myself at my own pace! I don?t time travel either for the same reasoning, and I find time travelling ruins the relaxed, slow atmosphere of the game for me. Some people love to time travel though and I can see why! I know a few people that would set their game to a different timezone in order to still be able to do things despite playing and strange hours. A couple would date change a day or two to an event if they knew they wouldn?t be able to make it, and I don?t see a problem in that either!

In terms of other people?s towns, I don?t really see an issue with that as well! Unless they are giving you things that they haven?t obtained through legitimate means, then I might have a personal issue with that. Otherwise, I think it?s nice to help each other out! Someone I know has a spare copy of the game, and we have used that a bit to try and get some of our dreamies. I don?t think there?s any issue with that!

I think just playing the game however you enjoy it is the best way to go! Doesn?t really matter as long as you?re having fun. That?s what you paid for after all!

 

[LunaLight]

In my main town (Which is finished), I keep the regular date and don?t TT since I don?t play in it as much. In my other in-progress towns I do TT though.

 

[reririx]

I used to TT because I had so much free time and got bored often. I didn't see it as cheating and I have no problem with people who choose to TT.

Now I decided not to TT. I made that decision because I am super, super busy. So I have the Night Owl Ordinance to accommodate for my busy schedule~ I do think though, that if I do fall a day behind, I would TT back and then forward but I haven't been in that situation yet and am unsure if I'll be doing that. I'm pretty strict this time with TTing in my new town!

 

[IndiaHawker]

Really interesting to read so many different answers, thanks! Keep them coming!

I decided to set my town three hours behind and I'm really pleased! Won't be TT-ing (have my other town for that) and didn't change the day, and I'm really pleased I've done it!