Would you have picked a different hemisphere?

[Fey]

You can obviously still participate in this discussion even if you didn’t choose to play in the Southern Hemisphere—just imagine how you would feel if you had!

~​

Would knowing that updates will thematically follow the Northern Hemisphere’s seasons have changed your decision of which region to pick?

It seems pretty clear now that many of the updates are tailored to fit the schedule of the Northern Hemisphere.

Does it bother you to get new content that is basically “out of season”? Do you see a better way for Nintendo to have handled this?

Personally, I would feel left out. I think Nintendo should’ve either made this bias toward the NH clear at the start of the game, or at least found a way to address it now within its announcements. Maybe a cute little extra for the SH with this update—like a hot beverage to warm you up after swimming, or a slightly different outfit suitable for winter/ice diving? Just some nod of acknowledgement toward those getting the feature in the middle of winter. In my opinion it doesn’t matter which hemisphere hosts the majority of players: if they can’t follow through on creating an equal experience for everyone, they should have just kept people on the same schedule as before.

 

[Jhine7]

Since it'll be the same but reverse in 6 months time, seems fair to me.

 

[samticore]

Kind of hope the diving items are seasonal, like New Leaf, some were winter and some were summer? I think even just footage of winter diving in the video would have been nice.

I actually have a question for southern hemisphere-ers: Is May/June not your wedding season since it's not springy? Is it like October? Let me know!!! Edit: I mean in real life haha

 

[aetherene]

I chose my correct hemisphere. One of my coworkers chose the Southern Hemisphere cause he wanted to. I am kinda jealous that he gets to have snow right now and then he'll also get the cherry blossom stuff without interference of Bunny Week.

 

[Mikaiah]

SH gets to have cherry blossom season without zippers eggs taking over everything
this is a buff.

 

[Fey]

I think even just footage of winter diving in the video would have been nice.

Agreed, simply just showing that they understand the implications for SH players would’ve gone a long way—a “we realize it’s not summer for everyone” statement.

 

[Roxxy]

Tbh I was thinking of resetting cos the snow looks amazing

I am happy at update and hope it works well for everyone

 

[Fey]

SH gets to have cherry blossom season without zippers eggs taking over everything
this is a buff.

Northern Hemisphere should be getting that next year as well, since Easter is earlier and ends several days before the end of Sakura season.

 

[rubyrubert]

In all honestly, I know that the updates are obviously summer-y, but most people missed diving from NL. The mermaid set was also really desired. Now they're doing more stuff with Gulliver too. I don't understand why SH people are complaining. The diving stuff is permanent. The summer update isn't temporary like the Wedding event. It's like adding Leif and Redd.

I can't stand how people complained about the lack of stuff and now are complaining when they add it's because it's too summer-y. I really don't get it.

 

[Xara]

i chose the northern hemisphere as that’s where i live but i definitely agree that the updates are mostly suited for the northern hemisphere rather than the south ;u;

 

[Lavamaize]

Even though I live and play in the Northern Hemisphere, we have to realize 90% of the worlds population live in the N. Hemisphere and. 10% in the southern hemisphere. This probably also applies in pretty similar figures to people who play ACNH in the N. vs S. Hemisphere. While it may not be fair that the S. Hemisphere does not get the updates in sync with seasons, it might not be practical for Nintendo to do updates for only around 10% of ACNH players. Im not saying they should not, I'm just giving the reasoning why they might not.

 

[Le Ham]

The thread title and the poll ask two slightly different questions. Are the updates unfair, I couldn't tell you for sure but I'm leaning toward no because yes, the thought process a lot of us have is diving = swimming = warm enough water to do so = summer, but some of the suits are more of bodysuits meant for use in cold water. And we have no idea how they're planning to do Brewster. As for mermaid set... that's a little harder to place for me.

Being from Florida, I don't know what it would be like to craft/use mermaid furniture when there's snow on the ground outside. Technically it's not a summer-specific thing, it's just an ocean-specific thing. (Unless the mermaid set requires summer shells to craft it, then that's a big oof for SH players.) But I don't know how people who are from colder climates feel about that. Probably not very favorably. I've never seen snow, and yet come December the Christmas imagery in my head still involves cozy sweaters and boots and roaring fireplaces (my friends like to stream a loop video of a fireplace on their TVs to set the mood) and lights and hot chocolate. If they release Brewster in time with the NH autumn/winter, and I were a SH player, it might feel a little off, unless Brewster's gotten with the times and now also serves cold brew

I'm from the NH, but I did consider picking the SH just for fun. I ultimately chose to stick with NH. If I had picked SH would I be regretting it now? I think maybe I might feel a bit weird about it, especially if it continues like this and becomes more apparent, but I'd ultimately just be happy to be able to do more things.

 

[pup]

Even though I live and play in the Northern Hemisphere, we have to realize 90% of the worlds population live in the N. Hemisphere and. 10% in the southern hemisphere. This probably also applies in pretty similar figures to people who play ACNH in the N. vs S. Hemisphere. While it may not be fair that the S. Hemisphere does not get the updates in sync with seasons, it might not be practical for Nintendo to do updates for only around 10% of ACNH players. Im not saying they should not, I'm just giving the reasoning why they might not.

i was leaning toward this being unfair but this is actually a good point i hadn't considered. dev time will be prioritized where the money is. i totally get why a SH player would be bummed though.

 

[Unaware]

I can't say I would. I don't want to have to choose the northen hemisphere just because they get the content in a time that makes sense, but I also don't think that both sides enjoy it equally.

We both get the content, yes, but experiencing summer stuff on winter and winter stuff on summer (Lord knows how THAT will work.) Is just.. it takes away from the experience, at least to me.

I get that they're updating stuff over time, but if all of the southern hemisphere is gonna get stuff out of season, i'd rather they just delayed the game and released them with these functions already in (update basically just brought back old features) and added actual new stuff for both hemispheres (have there be events for both ends, since more content = more stuff to do = takes longer to get tired of the game/ lose interest = more potential development time = more content per update with longer waits [???]), so there could be a summer & winter update and a fall & spring update, so that not only would both sides have an experience, the other side would get to experience the stuff from the season that was added in the previous update and they couldn't access before.

However, I'm no game designer, so maybe this isn't how it works at all. Overall, slightly saddened about all of this but it's how it is.

 

[loveclove]

In my opinion it doesn’t matter which hemisphere hosts the majority of players: if they can’t follow through on creating an equal experience for everyone, they should have just kept people on the same schedule as before.

I agree with you right here...
And it's not nice that north hemisphere players have been rude towards those who are unhappy with the way Nintendo has been handling this. They just don't know what's like

 

[Uffe]

I thought about choosing the southern hemisphere, but that's not where I live, so I stuck with the northern hemisphere. It would be interesting if the NH got summer stuff and the SH got winter stuff. I guess in a way they already do, though, with the mushroom set and frozen set.

 

[Fey]

Not gonna lie, I think the “because we’re the majority things will/should obviously be catered to us” argument is coming from a pretty privileged position.

i was leaning toward this being unfair but this is actually a good point i hadn't considered. dev time will be prioritized where the money is. i totally get why a SH player would be bummed though.

But the question isn’t whether the decision makes sense in terms of profit—it’s about whether it sucks for those 10% of players.

 

[loveclove]

Not gonna lie, I think the “because we’re the majority things will/should obviously be catered to us” argument is coming from a pretty privileged position.

This right here is the point, thanks for saying that

 

[pawpatrolbab]

In my opinion; no.
Southern hemisphere is literally getting the exact same content that people in the Northern hemisphere are, it makes absolutely no sense to me that people are taking issue with it (I mean, I hear their reasonings but it doesn't seem justified at all).

Nintendo should have avoided this mess by not calling it a summer update, I think that's what people who are upset are really taking issue with; the wording, not the content itself
Why would you feel left out if you're getting the exact same content as everyone else? I just don't get it

They'd have a point if diving was a summer exclusive event but it's not and never has been, just seems like they need something to complain about

 

[Unaware]

Not gonna lie, I think the “because we’re the majority things will/should obviously be catered to us” argument is coming from a pretty privileged position.

I didn't want to say this, but basically, yeah...

From a business standpoint, obviously they'll cater to the majority, but that doesn't mean us 10% should just have to suck it up and shrug saying "Oh well, it is how it is." because, even if we're smaller in numbers, we aren't less important (not saying anyone said this, because no one did!!) than the people of the northern hemisphere, at least outside of a business perspective (where obviously the majority being pleased is more important because money.)