Why I dislike Time travelling in NL

[Chris01]

Hey all, so I wanted to share my quick veiw on Time-travelling within NL and why I have promised myself not to do it!

Did you ever see that Adam Sandler movie 'Click' the one where he gets the magic Universal remote control, and realizes he can fast forward all through his life and rewatch bits of his childhood and all that cool stuff, he basically fasts forwards through all the arguments with his wife and the boring bits of his life until eventually the remote control learns his habits and starts fast forwarding through his life at intervals automatically ( he misses his fathers death and his daughter getting a boyfriend) for example.

Ok in summary this film, is a perfect example of why I feel TTing in Animal crossing is maybe not the best feature.

the paragraph below explains it in the simplest terms possible I feel:

'As Michael discovers that the remarkable device has the power to muffle the barks of the family dog, zoom himself past an irritating quarrel with his wife, and even allow him to travel back and forth through time to different points in his life. The rush of being able to skip straight to the good parts in life soon leaves him feeling as if he's missing out on the total experience. Only when Michael begins to realize that the he has lost control of his life and the remote is now programming him does he finally learn that life is as much about the moments he'd rather forget as it is the moments he will always remember.

and that sums up my point, time travelling gives you all the positive rewards but you miss out on the complete AC experience, Animal Crossing I feel IS about all the moments you would rather forget as much as it is about the moments you will always remember.

bit of an odd analogy but I watched it earlier and it got me thinking

 

[Sdj4148]

I think you're right. I do time travel a bit, but you're right. When you're getting an upgrade for a store or something, you'll feel more satisfied not TTing because of the struggle. The struggle of doing things makes things more rewarding. That's why I have a love/hate relationship with put ACNL into technical terms. It takes away the fun of it. Day by day is much more satisfying (I know I'm a hypocrite) than TTing through a year in a week.

 

[daynapapaya]

Eh, I understand why some people are personally against TTing. It all depends on the individual gamer. I was getting bored of ACNL after months of playing real-time, but once I found out about TTing it made the game much more enjoyable and rewarding for me, and now I'm hopelessly addicted.

So, I'm fine with people having their personal opinions on the matter of TTing. Just don't try to convince me not to, or tell me that I'm "playing it wrong" and not getting the "full experience", because believe me I am getting the full experience that I want, and how I go about getting that experience is quite frankly no one's business but mine.

 

[Spooky.]

In my second town I did a lot of time traveling in the beginning, as I was eager to start working on my town quickly and be able to buy more and work on my house and landscaping and stuff. After I got to T.I.Y. and unlocked stuff, I quit time traveling and play day by day now, on both of my towns. I tend to change the hour in the day a lot, since I play at night often, but other than that I don't TT at all.

 

[Blueskyy]

I did quite a bit to get rid of villagers. I thought I had a group of 10 I liked but was missing a few personality types. I also realized I didn't find Zucker that special to me. I kept tt to move out and in faster. I now have all personality types and a group of 10 I love. I am now playing everything in normal time.

 

[Kristen]

Eh, I understand why some people are personally against TTing. It all depends on the individual gamer. I was getting bored of ACNL after months of playing real-time, but once I found out about TTing it made the game much more enjoyable and rewarding for me, and now I'm hopelessly addicted.

So, I'm fine with people having their personal opinions on the matter of TTing. Just don't try to convince me not to, or tell me that I'm "playing it wrong" and not getting the "full experience", because believe me I am getting the full experience that I want, and how I go about getting that experience is quite frankly no one's business but mine.

Same, basically.

I get your point, OP, but Animal Crossing is not my real life. When I want to take a break from playing every day, I will time travel back to my last play time so I don't miss anything important, like my dreamies moving out. I can't take a break from real life and resume when I want to. I also time travel forward when I want to keep playing but I've finished the tasks for the day and want to move on, or when I want a PWP finished so I can see how pretty it is. I think not time travelling would stress me out because maybe I'm too busy to pick up the game and play, and I would risk losing my favourite villagers. In that case, I would feel pressured to play every day, then it wouldn't be fun for me anymore.

As daynapapaya said, I am getting the full experience that I want. I still interact with my villagers and the NPCs and go to the island and whatever I want to do. I get what I want out of the game, and going day by day naturally would not add to my experience.

I respect your opinion about it and how you and some others may feel that you're not getting the full experience from time travelling. It's just not that way for me.

 

[LegallyBlondie]

When I first got animal crossing, I didn't time travel for about the first couple of months. There was a lot for me to do every day as my town was still very new, I needed to catch the bugs available for the season and unlock the shops on main street and farm the bugs on the island for my house upgrades and whatnot, but once all of that heavy duty work was over and done with, I wanted to focus on my town. While anyone can argue that landscaping can be done in real-time, I'm way too impatient to see the results of my PWP, or waiting for my trees to grow, or getting more saplings in my shop.

Could I have done it? Yeah!
But the thing is, waiting around would have made me lose interest in the game. I want instant gratification sometimes, and that's something that animal crossing does not give me.

To make a comparison, sometimes waiting in animal crossing for something you really look forward to getting finished is like ordering something amazing on amazon and having to wait for it while it ships to your house. Would I skip forward if I could? Duh.

I can see and respect your point, but for me, it's just a game.

 

[Viena]

I've never TT'd since getting acnl on release and never will.
I enjoy doing everything honestly, town upgrades, events, even a whole year to get the golden equipment/catch all bugs/all fish.
Such a great satisfaction c:

It's so refreshing playing day to day, anticipating new things throughout the coming months. TTing would take all the fun out of it for me, personally.

 

[Classygirl]

I can see your POV especially as a new player but this is just my experience...I got my first town around Aug? of the year in 2013 when it was released..I still had contact with some old CF friends and one said he was setting his start date to the release date which I think was June 6 2013 by looking at my town founded list..I set it to that date thinking I wanted to start on release date..so I played a lot like 2 months non stop..then I got a second copy set it up Oct 2013 spent less time in town one..months went by..I started dream questing I would cycle the same day every time to get someone out or into town which took months and I played the same few days probably many many times until it was complete the first town I mean..as the new town and falling behind cycle happened a few more times and the dream cycling those towns frozen I time happened as well over nc over..so all my towns are about 2 months in though much ,uch more time has been playd. Now that they are complete I look and think it's still only almost Nov 2013 here..Feb 2014 there..aside my newest town which due to illness is Sept this year..they just fell behind. Then the guilt comes, what am I missing if I don't go day by day, then the villager asks to move in a completed town and I think what harm would it do to scoot ahead to the big events and days just enough to catch up to real time...then go day by day again now that questing and staying on one day is over..by looking at hours played on that town I should be in real time..I have played the same days over when cycling..then plotting a new villager then going back to the day before..so in my new towns I will go day by day, I usually start a little behind as there is only so much to do the first few days then move ahead..but the older complete towns. why not jump to the day before big days in game instead of trying to literally catch up years..but that's my story, I was in hospital in and out a few months since this past August so my newest town is behind now and I have one that got overshadowed by the town after it and so little time seems played..some I couldn't play because I had a villager there moving to a different town and had to hold and yeah they are all over the map season and year wise and I don't want to feel bad if I jump them around enough to catch up..and yet I do..

 

[Plupap]

Agreed. I've quit TTing in my new town. It has ruined 2 of my towns and takes away the fun.

 

[daynapapaya]

I enjoy doing everything honestly, town upgrades, events, even a whole year to get the golden equipment/catch all bugs/all fish.

Yeah, see, when people start to imply that TTing is "dishonest" and "cheating" and "wrong", and that they are somehow the better gamer for choosing not to TT, that's when I roll my eyes.

If TTing was truly dishonest, a way to "cheat" at the game, then Nintendo would have never included it as a feature. But they did. Because it's not dishonest, or cheating, or wrong. It's just an option to enhance the gameplay experience for people who personally enjoy moving at a faster pace. There's nothing "dishonest" about it.

 

[artisansystem]

Honestly, not TT'ing made the game ridiculously stressful for me, since I always felt like I was having to play catch-up. I TT extensively in my towns, and I do so so that I can play the game at my own pace- it's actually slower than real time, in some ways. I'll take multiple real life days on one in game day, and the liberty to skip ahead when I want to is relaxing to me. It means that I keep playing because I don't have to restart my town every time I pick it back up because there are weeds everywhere and everyone's moved out or something.

I understand your views, OP, but playing the game in real time is not the only way to play the game, and time-traveling is not only done by players who want to "get to the good parts." I feel like I'm getting the full experience of the game in my own way- if that's not the way you'd like to enjoy it, then that's perfectly fine! Different strokes for different folks.

 

[asleep]

I've never time traveled, although I have wanted to at times.
I never will though, since I love playing day to day, probably because
when I first started playing animal crossing I was too young
to even know time traveling existed and I worked day by
day to get my town how I wanted it. I still have that
mentality 10 years later. ?\_(ツ)_/?

 

[Dorian]

The way I see it is this: have fun playing your game anyway you see fit and don't worry about how the next guy is playing his. Everyone wins

 

[Viena]

Yeah, see, when people start to imply that TTing is "dishonest" and "cheating" and "wrong", and that they are somehow the better gamer for choosing not to TT, that's when I roll my eyes.

LOL. That's not what I meant at all.
Apologies if my grammar was incorrect but I meant "I enjoy doing everything, honestly."
As in, "In all honesty, I enjoy doing everything" Not the way you interpreted it.

Maybe double check before ranting? xD

 

[Ichigo.]

I agree to an extent. It just depends on the person. Some people wouldn't bother to keep up with the game without the option to time travel, but some might get tired of the game really quick with time traveling.

I personally played it from day to day for basically a year, but I started time traveling after I went a couple months without playing. After experiencing all the events in game in real-time, I don't really see anything beneficial from my playing day to day. It's just the same event. I can't speak for everyone, but a lot of people can't play in real time. We have...lives (like no offense but I'm far too tired from school to even bother picking up a game). Without time traveling, people would miss the special events in game. TTing isn't always about going forward just because of boredom, but even if it is...that's totally fine. Not everyone's the same

 

[FelicityShadow]

I agree to an extent. It just depends on the person. I can't speak for everyone, but a lot of people can't play in real time. We have...lives (like no offense but I'm far too tired from school to even bother picking up a game). Without time traveling, people would miss the special events in game. TTing isn't always about going forward just because of boredom, but even if it is...that's totally fine. Not everyone's the same

This so much. I technically do a mix of not TTing and TTing but for the most part I have to time travel in order to actually have the animal crossing experience. I barely have time to pick up the game because of college, especially to do the special events. Time traveling is the only way I can actually experience them. Whatever our reasons, Time traveling can sometimes give the animal crossing experience to those that wouldn't be able to have it.

I do like the pacing when one is not time traveling, but only during the everyday gameplay. I kind of just see time traveling or not as a preference and it should be respected whether someone wants to or not.

 

[Blueskyy]

Just play how your heart tells you to.

 

[Flyffel]

I'm still stuck in fall 2013 in AC because I rarely had time to play after summer 2013. TTing doesn't automatically mean skipping to the good parts.

 

[Chris01]

Ok this got a lot more replies than I anticipated, also thank you for all your views, great discussion points, I agree AC is played the way you want at the end of the day.