Should I restart my island?

[cardboardcanaries]

So basically, I’m stuck between whether I should just tough it out and try my best to keep what I have going or if I should just start fresh. I’m hating the layout of my island atm, and I know it would take ages for me to move houses and buildings on top of re-terraforming. Plus, who even knows if I’d still hate it after that or not? However, I’ve had this island since release, and I’ve spent a lot of time on it. Obviously I’d lose my progress, I’m aware of that. But sometimes fresh starts are nice? Anyway, I’m hoping I can get some opinions on what to do

 

[Ciary]

2 things
1) I am also thinking of doing this for a similar reason. also, getting new villagers is just fun so there is that. what is stopping me is the grind and the items I managed to get and the fish I managed to catch and the bugs I caught ... I don't wanna do all that again
2) if you are ok with that though, there might actually be a good middle ground: set your system clock to the day of release, and play day by day. once you're "done" skip to the next day. keep doing that until you're caught up. I did this 2 weeks after release when I reset my island then

 

[cardboardcanaries]

2 things
1) I am also thinking of doing this for a similar reason. also, getting new villagers is just fun so there is that. what is stopping me is the grind and the items I managed to get and the fish I managed to catch and the bugs I caught ... I don't wanna do all that again
2) if you are ok with that though, there might actually be a good middle ground: set your system clock to the day of release, and play day by day. once you're "done" skip to the next day. keep doing that until you're caught up. I did this 2 weeks after release when I reset my island then

Omg I was actually considering doing that, but I just feel like that’d kinda ruin the fun for me, you know? I’m truly unsure of what to do because like you said, I’ve obtained so many different things and spent so much time, but there’s just so much I’d have to do to get my island to where I want it to be.

 

[Aldrea]

I would say it depends on how much you hate your island. When I have these issues I try to make a list of loves and hates, in this case, are there villagers on your island you absolutely love or at least enjoy? What about the items/recipes you have? Also how long have you hated your island? I'd say go a full 2 weeks of hate before nuking it, lol.

 

[cardboardcanaries]

I would say it depends on how much you hate your island. When I have these issues I try to make a list of loves and hates, in this case, are there villagers on your island you absolutely love or at least enjoy? What about the items/recipes you have? Also how long have you hated your island? I'd say go a full 2 weeks of hate before nuking it, lol.

That’s great advice! I think I might try to work on it for a bit more and if I still hate it, yolo.

 

[JKDOS]

Unless you're resetting for better placement of things like Town Hall or river outlets, as grueling as it is, it will take less time to simply move the buildings and redo the terraforming, than the time it will take to reset, and regain all your progress back, like money, critterpedia, museum donations,DIYs, and Nook Mile Achievments.

 

[Dewasa]

Given that worse case scenario is to reset, why don't you try to soft reset by terraforming? Do it in sections, target the biggest pain point in your existing island and see how it feels after. If that still doesn't work out, you already know the answer on what's next. At least you tried so no regrets there.

 

[kjetta]

Do you 'hate your island' because you are looking at other people's islands and feeling resentful about not being able to do that with your own island; or do you dislike the placement of your plaza and river mouth exits?

If it's the former, then restarting your island might only further frustrate you as you would be even further behind your goal of 'beautifying' your island. In fact, the only argument I could think for restarting your island would be my latter point ('river exits and plaza placement') as realistically these are the only things that can't be amended.

Since there's no pressure to restart, why not take four acres of your island (2x2) and just focus on that area and see if you can start to build up the inspiration and motivation to work on your island.

I know a lot of what I'm saying is based on the assumption that you're burnt-out or envious of others, but genuinely I don't see how restarting your island would make you any less dissatisfied.

 

[N a t]

If the lay out is something you can change with terraforming or simply by moving buildings and furniture, I would keep your island unless you absolutely wanted to start over with new villagers, little or no items, etc. I restarted because I had very strong feelings about my reason for doing so, but it is a very big decision. It is definitely something I had to think about, and having my girlfriend hold my most precious items such as gifts from other players made my decision easier but I still lost so much. I don't regret what I did but the grind is going to be real.

If you're comfortable doing it though, and want to change things you cannot change through game play such as your resident services building location or the beaches and mouths of your rivers, than by all means. Just make sure you think long and hard before you do it though.