A little while back I bought a 3DS off eBay as my original one was getting pretty old. At the time, I already had four copies of ACNL. When the console arrived, I was really surprised to see that it also came with another copy of ACNL as it wasn't listed in the description at all.
When I opened the game, there was already a town active and I really liked it so I've kept it all this time and worked on it a little bit on my own when I grew tired of my main town. It's got pretty ramshackled because I've been off the game for around nine months and now I'm not sure if I should just keep it as a side town or erase.
I love the town layout and the few PWPs that were already built are actually in really good locations and I have a good running theme for it as well.
I guess my question is; if you got a surprise copy (or any secondhand copy) of ACNL and it had data on it still, would you erase or keep it?
Whenever I get a secondhand game that already has save data on it, I usually look through the save a bit, see what's been unlocked, but then start a new save (overwriting if there's only one save file). If I got another NL game with a save file I'd probably do the same, first look around the town a bit, see what's been unlocked, but later start over again. ...but before that I might give my main game any rare or exclusive items, Bells ect. on that save file
I’d probably have a look to see what’s there just because I’m nosy lmao but most likely I would then erase and start over! The exception would be if the town already had villagers I liked or a really good map but I like the idea of starting fresh more I think~
If I bought a used copy of the game and found another town on it, I would have to reset it. I might check it out and if I liked the town I may even use it as inspiration for my own, but I couldn't play someone else's town. I would want my own name, my own town name, and I like to start at the beginning and earn everything myself.
I have bought a used copy of ACNL but the data was wiped on it.
I would look around first on the town, see what the map looks like, how far they got in the game, what villagers and items they have, how many bells, ect... If I came to the conclusion that the game isn't hacked I might transfer items I like and bells to my towns. I would prob ultimately reset the town thou after scavenging its goods, if it has any.
When I bought my copy of New Leaf from a game shop back in 2014, it was used and it had a town on it. However, it was really under-developed and there wasn't much to it, so I just erased it and made my own town, since I wanted to start fresh my first time playing.
You could continue to maintain it if you believe you won't get too burned out. Just try and come up with some inspiration to add some pizzazz!
Or you could also move any rare/exclusive/useful items to your main copy of NL from this one, sell the town to Nook, and restart with a cushion of bells/optionally transferred catalog.
I have to say, as it is my third copy of the game, part of me is happy to have a bit less control over it than my main town. It also means I don't have to start from scratch. It's nice to just go there sometimes and every time I catch a random fish in the river I don't feel pressured to donate it to the museum. On the other hand, I do have lots of fresh ideas for what I could do with a blank slate. I've hung onto it all this time, though, because I keep thinking, I can always delete it later, but once it's gone, I can't get it back...
I would keep it. After all, it's a different experience to continue playing someone else's town and if it makes fun then why not? Could be a nice challenge to finish such a town which you didn't create yourself yet has potential to turn out good when you put more time and work into it.
