[Vent] Came Back to the Game Without an Island

[Dae]

Haven't posted here in awhile, but since I'm starting the game back up, why not start with a vent post/small PSA I guess.

Decided I wanted to revisit my island after about a year of not playing, and my island was nowhere to be found, nothing changed besides the fact that I had cancelled my NSO subscriptions some months ago. I called support, and was told that save data gets deleted from their servers after 3 months, and that if I don't back it up within that time, then you'll lose it. I mean, I don't ever remember opting into cloud saves in the first place, but that's cool. I'm not mad, I swear.

I have a feeling most people here know of this, but I figured I'd post anyway, partially as a PSA, but mostly to vent. As well as make a post after awhile of not doing so.

So, RIP Volk, 500 hours poured in, Museum and catalog nearly completed, moso dreamies attained, and I couldn't even see it one last time.

Honestly though, I was already heavily considering starting from scratch before finding this out. Granted, I was probably going to do it on a different device, to still have access to my old island, but I really wasn't seeing myself picking that one back up if I was to get back into the game. So, I'm feeling pretty good playing on the new island so far, knowing everything the game has to offer in the beginning is really helping me plan out my island layout ahead of time, which is nice given that that is kind of what made me stop playing my old island.

[Edit: As I was typing, I accidentally posted this prematurely so it might read weird, I'm not sure]

 

[-Apples-]

I’m sorry that you lost your island after all the work you put into it. I don’t know how this could happen.

 

[daynapapaya]

Wait was it on the same console as before? You never deleted/archived it from the console to free ups space or anything? It was just sitting there and when you came back there was no save data??!?! That is terrifying what the heck

 

[xxcodexx]

the EXACT same thing happened to me too!!! i had to start all over again! i feel ya!!! its an Argle Bargle RAR moment isnt it lol

 

[Plainbluetees]

I know I cancelled my Switch Online maybe two years ago and I haven't played the game in maybe a year and a half... I hope my island is still there!

I'm assuming you had a digital copy of the game, not physical? (that's what I have)

 

[Flyffel]

That is horrible! I'm so sorry! And genuinely confused... I thought that cloud saves are a BACKUP, and not something that REPLACES your regular save?? Which doesn't even make any sense? Like then you'd have to be connected to the Internet to play every time... Can anyone explain this? And thank you for the warning.

 

[BetsySundrop]

Just seeing this and so sorry you lost everything. But thank you for the psa - i had no idea this could happen!

 

[Iris_T]

Thats awful, I'm glad you're not taking it too hard and manage to see it on a positive light!

If it was me I would be in despair, losing randomly save files is one of my nightmares in almost any game, animal crossing with so many hours invested being probably the worst of all to lose

 

[Dae]

Sorry y'all, I was relying on the Discord bot to notify me of any messages and it was only notifying me of reactions to the post, so I didn't think there were any replies

Wait was it on the same console as before? You never deleted/archived it from the console to free ups space or anything? It was just sitting there and when you came back there was no save data??!?! That is terrifying what the heck

Same console, same Micro SD, physical copy, never touched the data.

Honestly, thinking about it, I wish I could've known whether the issue was that it was auto-archived or not, because there was still some data stored on the internal drive when I discovered that the island was gone. Obviously, I can't check it now because the new data overwrote it, but apparently auto-archive was on by default.

Not sure how I would've un-archived the data, though. From what I understand, just running the game should've been enough. But I ran the game and downloaded any software updates, and it still didn't recognize any island data.

I know I cancelled my Switch Online maybe two years ago and I haven't played the game in maybe a year and a half... I hope my island is still there!

I'm assuming you had a digital copy of the game, not physical? (that's what I have)

I'd honestly be really interested to know if you decide to check. I'm still pretty confused on what actually happened, because I'm starting to have doubts on whether the rep was right or not.

That is horrible! I'm so sorry! And genuinely confused... I thought that cloud saves are a BACKUP, and not something that REPLACES your regular save?? Which doesn't even make any sense? Like then you'd have to be connected to the Internet to play every time... Can anyone explain this? And thank you for the warning.

Yeah, I'm not sure. My only guess it is that it was auto-archived because of inactivity, since auto-archive was on by default?

Starting to think there may have been something I could've done, but whatever, already started over lol

 

[Aniko]

Wow that's scary! I had no idea. I need more explanation I think. I saw this:

And disabled it right away. Not sure of what I'm doing actually.

 

[Dae]

Wow that's scary! I had no idea. I need more explanation I think. I saw this:
View attachment 602724

And disabled it right away. Not sure of what I'm doing actually.

Dang, that's pretty scummy. Not that I expect any less from a company like Nintendo, but yeah.

Like I said, I'm not really sure what happened at this point. I re-subbed to NSO when I started back up so I could use online features again, and I noticed that I still have access to cloud save-data from other games from as far back as 2019. So none of it was deleted when my NSO sub lapsed. I honestly think there may have been something I could've done to access the Island again, not sure what, but earlier I checked into the NookLink app, and it still has my old character in it? Probably just a backup seperate from the game, but still weird that it's there and considers it to be a second character.. I don't know.

 

[RoseEchoes]

I have gone months to a year without playing, that's horrible to think Nintendo would do that? It makes no sense ;-; All that work we put into our islands is...wow.

 

[Tsukuri_Yukimura]

That’s weird. I just recently restarted my island. But I had gone through the file before I removed the data and it was fine on my end and I haven’t played that game in about half a year so I’m not sure how that happened to you but here’s hoping the fresh start helps you get back into it.

 

[mermaidshelf]

first of all, im so so so sorry that happened to you. you can message me if you need some stuff to help you get back, i have a bunch of bells and materials, a completed orderable catalog, etc.

wait thats really scary. im on a nso family plan that im not in charge of (and could be cancelled at any time by the person in charge of the account). how are we supposed to back up then? i have a digital copy so im even more concerned... im going to try the method outlined on the nintendo website but this is really terrifying, i already had an issue earlier this week with "corrupted data" and i have heard horror stories of peoples save datas never working again.

 

[Isadoraisacat]

Haven't posted here in awhile, but since I'm starting the game back up, why not start with a vent post/small PSA I guess.

Decided I wanted to revisit my island after about a year of not playing, and my island was nowhere to be found, nothing changed besides the fact that I had cancelled my NSO subscriptions some months ago. I called support, and was told that save data gets deleted from their servers after 3 months, and that if I don't back it up within that time, then you'll lose it. I mean, I don't ever remember opting into cloud saves in the first place, but that's cool. I'm not mad, I swear.

I have a feeling most people here know of this, but I figured I'd post anyway, partially as a PSA, but mostly to vent. As well as make a post after awhile of not doing so.

So, RIP Volk, 500 hours poured in, Museum and catalog nearly completed, moso dreamies attained, and I couldn't even see it one last time.

Honestly though, I was already heavily considering starting from scratch before finding this out. Granted, I was probably going to do it on a different device, to still have access to my old island, but I really wasn't seeing myself picking that one back up if I was to get back into the game. So, I'm feeling pretty good playing on the new island so far, knowing everything the game has to offer in the beginning is really helping me plan out my island layout ahead of time, which is nice given that that is kind of what made me stop playing my old island.

[Edit: As I was typing, I accidentally posted this prematurely so it might read weird, I'm not sure]

Wait hold up so your saying if we cancel our nso subscription they will delete our islands ?

I thought the save data was only for back up purposes so your saying they are holding our islands for ransom ?

 

[Corrie]

I am SO sorry this happened!! Like WHAT! I'm definitely disabling saving to the cloud service when I get home, hoping that'll stop it. It's supposed to save to your cart, not their cloud service! That's so dumb!

This is why I hate subscriptions and cloud saves. You don't own anything anymore.

 

[Isadoraisacat]

I am SO sorry this happened!! Like WHAT! I'm definitely disabling saving to the cloud service when I get home, hoping that'll stop it. It's supposed to save to your cart, not their cloud service! That's so dumb!

This is why I hate subscriptions and cloud saves. You don't own anything anymore.

So how do we disable it ? I think I did it because the Chanel crossing channel said too. But what happens if we take it off? I’m so confused I just don’t want to lose my island.

I have a digital copy

 

[Corrie]

So how do we disable it ? I think I did it because the Chanel crossing channel said too. But what happens if we take it off? I’m so confused I just don’t want to lose my island.

I have a digital copy

I have no idea tbh! I just went into my settings and disabled what Aniko posted. Don't know if that'll do anything but I want nothing to do with the cloud. I want it to save onto my system.

 

[Doo]

I’m confused. I’ve had my cloud save on since late 2020. Sometimes I play away from home, not connected to the internet, and there’s no issue retrieving my data. There’s also no issue retrieving that offline progress when I open it at home again. Everything is saved to my switch afaik. I’m pretty sure our switch online subscription was cancelled briefly at one point too and I didn’t lose anything. I have a physical copy.

I’m thinking maybe the issue had something to do with the use of a micro SD card? Did it break? Did it get removed or replaced?

I don’t understand how this could happen. It’d be awful if we all lose our islands

 

[michealsmells]

The save cloud backup should be just that- a backup. Unless something happened to your cart or, specifically, to your switch itself, there is NO reason your island should've been deleted. It genuinely doesn't make ANY sense and I expect there's more at play here than just you ending your NSO subscription. Backups prevent loss due to data corruption. The only thing that'd make this all make sense is that the backups were deleted, and then the save file corrupted and deleted. Which shouldn't have happened without your knowledge unless theres magically a new SD card in your switch?? This just makes no sense

I know you already started a new island but I'd complain to Nintendo further, cause like what.

And the biggest thing out of all of this is that I'm sorry this happened to you, really. I'd be too heartbroken to even start a new island but you have a chance to do so now! Create new memories, all of that. Do ask if you need any help okay? This forum, myself included, are all 100% willing to help you progress your island if you'd like the help!