How I Ruined Animal Crossing (For Myself)

[LouLou422]

Hello! I know that many people will read this and wonder how I managed such a thing! Recently the joy of Animal Crossing New Leaf has been sucked from me...how you may ask?

Well, even though I have all my favourite villages, I have decided where they put their houses as well as what they can/can't do etc etc?


So basically I feel like I run a dictatorship and that there is no freedom for my villages, for example:

• They cannot buy or sell items due to me not wanting to 'ruin' the look of their houses
• I don't get they anything (like fish) that again will ruin their houses
• I basically trap them there forever, they can't move out because I won't let them!
• etc etc

So basically, I ended up viewing my town as something of perfection...which I guess really took the fun out of things? I was so focused on looks that I don't really focus on things like my relationship with my villagers, filling up my museum etc etc
So I've decided to stop all that and jump back into the game!

Have any of you had a similar experience?

 

[carackobama]

I get this! For a while recently I was starting to get a bit too fixated on making my town perfect, as I’d been visiting a lot of dream addresses which I guess made me feel like my town wasn’t “good enough”. It was starting to make playing stressful which is the exact opposite of what I wanted so I’m trying to balance out building up my town naturally (not rushing it) and doing the other daily take etc. I definitely enjoy that style of playing a lot more!

 

[Mayor Kera]

"Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good."

 

[Stella-Io]

I get it, sometimes you feel like you run their lives.

I do the same thing, decorate their houses, give them clothes so they look nice, don't do fish/bug errands, and some of them are never moving out. Sterling has asked so many times already

But I also try to be their best friend, give them gifts, fruit, change their catchphrase/greeting, help them deliver stuff, send letters, and keep my town clean so they don't complain. It's funny, Static walks by an area full of purple tulips and he says he appreciates the scenery in it, twice. Static is the only one who gets it haha

I try to make my animals live happy lives, since they're going to be stuck in my towns for a loooong time.

 

[Farstar12]

I understand this! I want to have an absolutely amazing beautiful town like those Japanese dream addresses without killing my perception of my town and adding to the stress.

 

[DoctorPaine]

I’m hoping to at some point get my towns to a ‘perfect’ state- villager housing areas are kinda non-negotiable because I’ve already zoned out other houses and PWPs, but once I get that ‘perfect’ snapshot of ideal villagers and setups? I’m going to try and relax and let villagers cycle through/not get too uptight about /keeping/ it perfect.

... until then though yeah sorry anyone moving in but you’ve kinda shown up while it’s micromanaging season.

 

[Snowesque]

I let my villagers do whatever they wanted with their houses for the first half of my file's life.
After about say, three years, I was pretty sick of their houses looking like a oddities store.

What probably bothered me the most was that their house had basically no personality as in who they are.
Every house was either the same, or was just barren.

I get your point, but in the end; it'll always be us changing their houses and it'll always be us deciding whether they move or not. It doesn't even have to be intentional.

 

[Sinmenon]

I let my villagers do whatever they want with their houses, but when something gets too odd or ugly I give them something from their original set to replace the undesirable furniture or when their houses is too barren. For example, Colton sold his Regal Bed and I almost immediately bought it, catalogued it among my alts, and then send it as a gift back to him. I gave Daisy an exotic bench, which looks nothing like her usual decor, so I sent her back the classic sofa she gave me as a thanks and later replaced it with a chaise lounge.

But moving? Yeah, you are not going anywhere until I say so.

I've never been to dream addresses, but many screenshots I think they hacked their towns to look awesome. There are things that I don't think it is possible....Or maybe I'm the one who is too much of a newbie.

 

[cherrysmilesonice]

I use to ruin the game for myself too.

 

[cornimer]

Yeah I can't imagine that being too much fun. I'm usually not very controlling in my town, but I found that even putting down paths and flowers made it less fun because then I got too paranoid about walking over flowers. I definitely enjoy playing Animal Crossing the most when there are less rules involved. I'm glad you were able to realize where you went wrong and hopefully you can have more fun now!

 

[LadyDestani]

Yeah, it can be difficult to hit the right balance between creating a town that you find beautiful and not trying to micromanage everything. That balance may be different for each person, too.

For me, I care about where villagers plot their homes. I tried not to, but after living with someone literally 3 steps from my front door for months, I couldn't stand it anymore.

I also care to some degree about keeping my villagers houses looking nice on the interior, but not about keeping them original. I do most requests for my villagers, but if they ask for furniture, I pick out something that I think will look nice in their home. I keep a stock of furniture for such occasions in my storage and in Retail.

If they ask for fish or bugs, I may or may not complete the request. It depends on how many fish/bugs they are currently displaying and if I can get one that looks nice in their home...like goldfish or crickets.

If I make a delivery and they end up with something that just looks horrible in their homes, I send them an appropriate replacement that I think will look better.

But I'm happy to let them make changes and try not to be too particular. If it's not hideous (like that time Tammi had a steamroller in her house), then I let them keep it.

 

[cats_toy]

I learned the hard way your villagers shouldn't get everything they request. For example Rod wanted one of the fossils I had in my pocket, without knowing this simple gesture of giving it to him would come back and bite me on the backside I did and have regretted it ever since. And now no matter what I may offer him, he will not depart with that piece of fossil that has consumed his room.

ACNL is my first in the series so I didn't know about maps, villager placements and yes gifting villagers whatever happens to be on their minds at the moment. Over time however, I learned to live with my map, give villagers items that compliment their homes, not overtake them.

I guess in a way I would be considered a dictator but in my defense, if the villagers are proud and happy in their town then being a dictator can't be all bad.

 

[lowaltitude]

For a while I was afraid that I was doing this to myself & my town too, but every day I try not to be too hard on myself & my villagers, and want to enjoy the game as much as possible. Sure, it's nice to have a good-looking town, but only if you truly enjoy the work you put into it. I try to let my town develop naturally, with villagers changing their shirts as they please, and homes filled with various aquatic creatures, if I bring 'em to them

 

[MasterM64]

I can see why that wouldn't be fun, that is part of the reason why I just let my villagers do whatever except let them move out (since plot resetting in my town is a absolute pain if I don't want any trees, bushes, hybrids, etc. getting destroyed lol). Whenever a villager has successfully moved out, I also let the game decide who I get next to keep things interesting! Going off of what I said, I would recommend letting your experience become more lax (I honestly play AC because it is super relaxing) in how you handle villager interactions and stock up on flowers, etc. in case any move out so there is less stress!

 

[Croconaw]

I personally don?t care what my villagers? houses look like. They can have what they want in their houses.

 

[Bluebellie]

This sounds soo much like me. I however have no objections to me being a dictator

 

[Sansy]

I think there is a subset of people who do find enjoyment out of micromanaging towns. I find these people usually have multiple 3DS and copies of ACNL! I had been thinking of getting a second copy of ACNL myself, but hearing that AC on the Switch will be out this year has me hesitating.

For me, I was always super casual with AC. I'd always interact with the villagers and do tasks for them, but then find myself getting bored... So, I started a new village with focusing on the town, PWP, making clothing and path designs, but I also always try to interact with all my villagers everyday! I always get a little chuckle out of how even the nicest villager house in my town ends up looking like a crazy hoarder lives inside.

My only beef is when they all run around wearing weird clothes. I dunno how it happened but Poppy, Stinky, and Beardo all starting wearing this weird straw looking shirt. I got Stinky to change his cloths with a shirt I sent him, but Poppy and Beardo look silly. I sent them both a letters asking them to get out of the "straw shirt cult" and I might have told Poppy, "CALL YOUR DAD! YOU'RE IN A CULT!"

 

[Candy83]

Hello! I know that many people will read this and wonder how I managed such a thing! Recently the joy of Animal Crossing New Leaf has been sucked from me...how you may ask?

Well, even though I have all my favourite villages, I have decided where they put their houses as well as what they can/can't do etc etc?


So basically I feel like I run a dictatorship and that there is no freedom for my villages, for example:

• They cannot buy or sell items due to me not wanting to 'ruin' the look of their houses
• I don't get they anything (like fish) that again will ruin their houses
• I basically trap them there forever, they can't move out because I won't let them!
• etc etc

So basically, I ended up viewing my town as something of perfection...which I guess really took the fun out of things? I was so focused on looks that I don't really focus on things like my relationship with my villagers, filling up my museum etc etc
So I've decided to stop all that and jump back into the game!

Have any of you had a similar experience?

I would like an ?Animal Crossing? which gives the animal villagers a second floor and a basement. They can put their new items in those rooms while preserving the original look of their houses.

As for the rest of what you listed: I relate. Doing it that way goes against a pure form of which this game had been intended. But, I think what motivates that is a great appreciation not only for ?Animal Crossing? but also for the design aspects of many things?including the animal villagers? original clothes and interior homes.

 

[Millefeui]

I am guilty of trapping villagers I like in my town. However, I don't care about what they do with their houses and clothing. It is theirs.