Polygon: Animal Crossing players are starting over after dozens (or hundreds) of hours

[Fey]

I’ve been close to resetting for a week now, and I’ll admit that the temptation was strong for a while. I even got to the point of looking at an overview of map options, writing down which exact features I would be rolling for and calculating the odds! My discontent with the current save was so oppressive that I stopped playing for the last two weeks, just because it made me sad.

I have deep sympathy for those going through the struggle, and wish everyone the best of luck in finding or creating the Island they’re hoping for! ♡

 

[LittleMissPanda]

“But I hated everything I was building. I missed the early days where I just had to worry about planting trees and finding new villagers.”

She can still do that. Terraforming is a choice. You're not forced to redesign your island. And to cry about how you don't like how your island looks and then start over? I think most people who have played New Horizons have at least felt some kind of stress over terraforming or felt the need to compare their island to someone else's. But it really isn't that big of a deal. I think she has some underlying issues and should take a break from the game. This isn't a competition. You're not earning trophies for the best island.

I agree with this. I've been there when it comes to the stress of terraforming. It felt so overwhelming, I didn't even know where to begin and how to begin. I would get creator's block, I would finish one area and didn't know how to flow into the next. And sometimes nothing I did made sense. There were times I wanted to stop playing too but I kept coming back and never gave up on terraforming. Why? I love the game and it really does help me block out all the negativity life keeps throwing my way.

I have major OCD so that contributed to my stress with my island. But I'm glad I hung in there because I created something out of nothing, and I still have plenty of ideas to try out.

It's really all just trial and error with terraforming, but it's SO worth it in the end when you walk around your island and admire your hard work.

 

[Pop-tart]

I am too lazy and too attached to my island, despite the hot mess that it is, to even consider resetting. The appeal of AC to me personally is the villagers, the activities, and my character. The appearance of my island is honestly a really low priority for me, so I guess that's why I feel no need to reset.

 

[Fey]

It's just OCD people looking for a quick fix for their islands, even though there isn't one, I've seen it so many times, people just get stuck in a loop and never get anywhere because they don't want to put the work in, due to feeling overwhelmed, they need to learn some planning skills, even just doing one acre at a time with a basic idea for areas can lead to amazing towns.

I usually don’t care too much about people throwing around the OCD label so casually, but in this case it’s a complete and offensive oversimplification. For one thing, there are plenty people without OCD whose reasons are much less frivolous than you make them out to be. And as far as the actual condition goes—trust me, OCD is the exact opposite of “not wanting to put the work in” ^ｪ^

 

[nerfeddude]

I can't possibly see myself restarting after so many hours spent to build my island. Of course there's some things I'm not really happy with but in my opinion the only things you can't change by yourself is river mouth, secret beach, beach rocks, RS and airport placements. My RS is just one block away from being perfectly symmetrical to airport exit but it doesn't bother me too much - I'm not aiming for "perfect" look of my island anyway so be it.
Everyone is so different and that's why I love this game so much

 

[Romaki]

Eh, I started over twice and I'm happy I did. I wasn't vibing with my other islands for one reason or another. I needed to find one that could be me, where the possibilities reflect my needs and likes. It took a while, but I'm confident with what I got now. Personally I haven't felt any type of anxiety towards New Horizons, I was genuinely excited to begin anew and grind days to get to today from release date.

Forcing yourself to live with something you actively dislike is just harming yourself mentally and people should be confident in their willingness to change things for the better. Do you have the time to work on a new island? And do the things that bother you actually bother you when you play daily? Me, I was very worried about my map looking perfect (like just the corners and all) and I had a bad corner I wanted to cover up with the camping spot, but I've learned that I don't actually care about that one tiny pixel on my map so I put it in a nicer place.

But it is a nice article. You really don't need to play like other players if it strains you mentally. Some people need a clean and tidy layout, others need the freedom to constantly change things up. This might not be the prettiest layout for the average player, but it makes it playable for us.

 

[ForgottenT]

I usually don’t care too much about people throwing around the OCD label so casually, but in this case it’s a complete and offensive oversimplification. For one thing, there are plenty people without OCD whose reasons are much less frivolous than you make them out to be. And as far as the actual condition goes—trust me, OCD is the exact opposite of “not wanting to put the work in” ^ｪ^

It is still ocd behaviours wether they have the condition or not, and that's the way the word is used today, wether it's right or wrong doesn't bother me, people know the intented meaning.

I'm well aware of what the actual condition is, one of my younger siblings have it to an insane degree, and are trying to get help.

 

[Fey]

EDIT: never mind, I don’t want to go too much off topic (or out of line)

 

[Uffe]

I agree with this. I've been there when it comes to the stress of terraforming. It felt so overwhelming, I didn't even know where to begin and how to begin. I would get creator's block, I would finish one area and didn't know how to flow into the next. And sometimes nothing I did made sense. There were times I wanted to stop playing too but I kept coming back and never gave up on terraforming. Why? I love the game and it really does help me block out all the negativity life keeps throwing my way.

I have major OCD so that contributed to my stress with my island. But I'm glad I hung in there because I created something out of nothing, and I still have plenty of ideas to try out.

It's really all just trial and error with terraforming, but it's SO worth it in the end when you walk around your island and admire your hard work.

I know terraforming can be stressful, and for various reasons. And I understand your feelings of when it came to terraforming, because I felt the same way, unsure of where to begin. But I wouldn't say it's something crying over or even starting over like the person in the article did. The thing about terraforming is the uncertainty of what to do with it. Some people might already know what they want to do, but some of us don't. In retrospect, I do wish I had an idea of what to create rather than just putting buildings in various plots of land. I think that people should try to plan something when it comes to terraforming.

First, come up with a theme. Most people have done a Zen/Japanese/Urban theme with their islands. I've seen two Hawaiian themed islands, two or three horror themed islands, an island turned completely into a maze, which honestly was stressful just watching that video, and someone made their island a cruise ship. So I think coming up with a theme is important.

Secondly, I would suggest creating paths and measuring the square footage of each building. This is something I started doing before moving residence around, that way it wouldn't be costly. Unfortunately, I have had planned things and then redid them to make things look a bit better. This isn't really directed towards you, but anybody who is starting to terraform, because this kind of helped me out with not stressing too much. I don't hate terraforming, and I would hope that if Nintendo saw comments about terraforming that they would still bring it back in future games. Anyway.

tl;dr: Terraforming can be stressful. Take breaks. Come up with a theme, use paths to plan building locations.

 

[Fantasyland]

I understand the appeal of resetting, but I feel that this game specifically has so many things to unlock and do, I'd rather not do it all again. Sure I TT'd to do it, but it was still days and days of work doing all the things I wanted. I saw someone in this thread float the idea of a switch lite to do a second island - and I think that's so cute! If anything I'd do that with a cheap used lite.

Personally I have around 70 hours and have been TTing mercilessly because that's what I enjoy doing, and I have not touched one singular thing inside my house. I have a nice.... "shop area" I guess... but I honestly don't think I have anything special going on in my town besides my meticulously terraformed lake in the shape of my native fruit, cherries. I'm cute. Perhaps it's because I've taken some days off and not forced myself to get the "best stuff" and "best island," but I feel I have months and months of TTing with my playstyle before I become remotely confident enough to post pictures and stuff.

 

[Mairen]

I read the article yesterday and also found it an interesting read. From what I understood of it, a lot of people were starting over because they rushed into the hype and didn't take their time to fully enjoy the what the game had to offer. When you are constantly competing against other people to be the best, then you've already lost. There will always be a better island out there, with better villagers, better decor, etc. You'll never be happy with your island. You get trapped into that way of thinking. When you stop worrying about being better than everyone else, then you aren't stressing about showing off to anyone. I never understood why so many people have to treat animal crossing like a beauty contest.

However, if you stop competing and just play for yourself to experience the relaxed joy the game is supposed to bring, then you can really appreciate the game and enjoy all it has to offer. I think a lot of people quoted in that article realized that, so they wanted to start over with a different way of thinking, a more relaxed way of thinking, and are now enjoying this game more than ever before. And that makes me happy for them.

 

[issh0mans]

i only reset once and it was when i was early into the game. i just didn't like my map layout at all it had very little room for placing buildings on the first level and i couldn't get up cliffs yet, didn't want to wait for terraforming, and didn't want to have to shell out so many bells to move everything later. i'm very content with my town atm!! sometimes i feel like restarting for no reason then realize i'd regret that heavily lmao.​

 

[Corry]

I'm never resetting my island. Just the thought of my save data getting corrupted and losing over 400+ hours makes me feel devastated. When I did major terraforming to my island, I had somewhat of an idea in mind in terms of how I wanted things to look. I wanted nice looking neighborhoods for my villagers and everything else came naturally on it's own. I really think people need to stop watching these "5 star island" videos as it just discourages people from putting their own ideas to use on their island. If you constantly compare yourself to other people you'll never be happy.

 

[moonolotl]

I would never in a million years have the heart to reset, unless i was completely 100% bored of the game and had been for like a year

 

[Xara]

i’m in love with my island and i would never consider resetting. it’s not perfect but i’ve come too far to throw it all away now ;u;

 

[trashpedia]

I was thinking about restarting my island but then after some time I grew to like my island. Thw problem is that it just needed more buildings and furniture to work imo (which I'm hoping will happen soon with future updates since there really is a lack of furniture variety). The only thing I really wish to change about my island is where the rivers end, but it doesn't bother me too much.

 

[Splinter]

One night, she was struggling to get a cliff to round off just right. After 10 minutes, she told Polygon, she started to “uncontrollably bawl.” So she decided to reset her game and start all over again.

Sounds like a few people on this forum

 

[Reginald Fairfield]

I restarted after 3 days of playing for one main reason: I ended up with peaches aka “butt fruit” when I wanted cherries. I saw my other friends who started after me getting native fruit they were happy with and I was jealous.

Could I have dug up all my butt trees and replaced them with exotic fruit? Yes but I decided to pull the trigger. Also I got Paula as my sisterly and I was hoping for two villagers I was at least neutral on.

So I restarted, got a map I liked better than my first and cherries - the fruit I wanted on the first try. I also got Cherry and Buck and I fell in LOVE with Buck, so much that I hunted down his amiibo card amidst the NH madness. Zero regrets.

Would I do it again at this point in the game? No. I spent like 400k moving houses bc I had them all out of alignment, lost 100k seeing if I could center my museum on my ramp/path (nope).

The people I see wanting to start all over now just aren’t patient enough (or wealthy enough) to move everything to where they would want it.

For me I did minimal terraforming, I didn‘t create new ponds that didn’t exist before or erase existing elevations and I’m super happy with my island. For people like me I could see where having a good starting map is helpful but you should kinda know looking at it whether you can envision things going in certain places. Or maybe I”m just too type A and that comes naturally only to folks like me.

I like butts.

 

[Ossiran]

I'd rather get an imported copy of the game or get a new console than reset my island. That spare island would be one thing, but my current town has me too invested to think about resetting, especially with the ability to terraform and move all but a few things.

 

[CrankyPirate]

I’m at the point where my island feels like a second home to me. I know every inch of it and I love it as it is. I would never reset and in case my save file got corrupted, I’d probably try to achieve the same design I currently have: a causy little town with my favorite animal buddies!