# I want to understand why some people despise New Horizons



## NatsumiSummer (Oct 13, 2020)

I am someone who REALLY loves Animal Crossing: New Horizons. I have spent a little over 1,700 hours on this game (my Switch says 1,710 hours or more), I still play it every day. The longest I have gone without playing this game was for a week back in August, but after that I was right back to playing this game daily for about 2-5 hours per day. I think the soundtrack and audio is great in this game. I haven't had any real gripes with the furniture or villager dialogue, and I have been enjoying the trickle of updates we have been getting here and there. 

Sure I wish there was more to do online, so I could actually have a reason to have people visit my island. But that isn't enough for me to even dislike this game. I find it to be more on the level of a minor nitpick, same with the durability of the tools. I really don't mind it. 

So... I have decided to ask those that do hate/dislike this installment in the series... why do you dislike it? What exactly makes this game **** for you? Am I crazy for liking what I like? 

Also keep in mind I have been playing Animal Crossing for roughly 14 years or so.. (shortly after Wild World came out on the Nintendo DS.) So I am pretty much a veteran to the series. Also I haven't been able to really play Pocket Camp AT ALL since any phone I happen to have just so happens to lack the required amount of memory to download the game. So could it be that I since I haven't been able to play Pocket Camp since they introduced the Cabin update is why I am able to REALLY enjoy New Horizons? 

Again I am just super curious... What do you hate/dislike about New Horizons and WHY do you hate those things?


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## meggiewes (Oct 13, 2020)

I would really like to know this too. Sure, I might complain about it sometimes. I really miss things from New Leaf. But, I really enjoy playing New Horizons.

I couldn't get into Pocket Camp and I really dislike leaf tickets. I don't understand why people want paid DLC for this game when it feels a bit unfinished compared to New Leaf and what I've heard of Wild World.

I really hope you get some insightful answers in this thread. ♡


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## Jassiii (Oct 13, 2020)

Personally, I really love this game, I find a lot of enjoyment from it but my problem is burn out + lackluster villager dialogue-- which I'll explain.

Burn out for me is because I played non-stop during the summer and near August I went like a month without playing because I was just...so bored? My Islands layout was disheartening and at the time I didn't want to just reset because I'd paid a pretty amount of NMTs for my villagers but I wasn't enjoying it because I couldn't figure out what to do with my island. So, after not playing for a month, I reset my island. I'm glad I did because since then I only ever miss a day or two of playing and there's always something for me to do because I'm really focusing on decorating to my heart's content. That's enough for me, it should be enough for me. But it's really not.

The villagers feel like figurines in a diorama. Except a figurine would sit on it if I put it there-- my villagers opt to sit on the floor when there's a minimum of three chairs nearby. For the most part, I find this endearing but sometimes I'll walk my way to the airport to visit someone and leave to see how my island looks from the plan and I'll pass Hornsby sitting on the ground and next to a chair-related furniture item and I'm just ??? dude it's right there ?? But that's the smaller side of my complaints, my bigger complaint would be the dialogue. I miss how mean the snooty and cranky villagers were at first-- that was their whole charm ! Also, they just say the same things all the time-- it's just so boring. All the villagers feel even more like cookie-cutter cut-outs than ever before  I feel like dialogue wise, the Normals and Lazies seem to have the worst of it-- which makes me sad because my all time favorite villager is Vesta and her dialogue is so...lackluster. _sigh _

I really love this game, it gives me somewhere to escape too ! But these are little things that rub me wrong personally, I still love my villagers I just wish there was more life to them.


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## BigBadButterfree (Oct 13, 2020)

I don't hate it by any means, I've played every day since launch at least for a little bit, but I think I can see why someone might be unhappy with it. In some ways it evolves what made past entries in the series so great, like the customization and clothing and animal hobbies and such. However, by doing that it also changes some of what some people enjoyed. Crafting is not for everyone. I can see how that alone would make the game feel more like work/chores than it already is. And they've added pumpkins and possibly more farming for the future. It's on its way to becoming harvest moon and that's honestly not my cup of tea but I can see past that to the rest of the game, which I love. Not everyone can. I know I see plenty of complaints here about the lack of furniture items. To me, that argument is both accurate and not. Yes, there are a lot of items from past games that didn't come back, but the items we do have come in so many varieties it makes up for it, to me at least. Again, not everyone will feel that way. 

In conclusion, I think it really comes down to the fact that this game is the latest entry in a series. It will always be compared to previous installments. And depending on what you valued in those previous installments, your perception of this game will be different because things have changed.


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## Noel_in_Sunrise (Oct 13, 2020)

I don't hate this game and I have been playing since the Gamecube version (though have put the most time into handheld versions), but I do find it harder to play than the others and sometimes regret playing it, which I never did with any of the previous titles. 

For me, it is all the time wasted that makes me sad about it sometimes. The long load, slow dialogue, tedious crafting and inventory management. The game expects me to spend hours to catch a single bug or fish sometimes. I could go on. The game likes to waste my time. This game can be a chore. Also, the customization can be stressful and is so slow. This game would have benefited so much from a way of terraforming and placing items outside similar to how items are placed inside. I would love to click to start a path or fence and click again where I wanted it to end. Click a button to put items placed outside back in house storage and be able to pull things directly from house storage. Drag and drop flowers. I mean, there are season decorations, are we re ally expected to redecorate seasonally with the current control scheme?
I know a lot of people feel like major QoL additions will change the sort of game this is, but as much as I love Animal Crossing, a lot of its mechanics are just horrendously outdated.
I have had fun with this game. It just wish that it respected my time more.


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## Tiffany (Oct 13, 2020)

I don't hate this game and I've been playing since ac was on gamecube. I never played pocket camp either. One thing might be that this version is clearly geared toward those that like to design and decorate and not everyone does. me personally I'm no good at that stuff so my island looks awful and it has really bothered me. My NL town was a mess too. Also they definitely need to make some quality of life updates. No unbreakable tools really sucks. They need to fix the bulk buying/crafting so we decide how many. Also the tailor shop. Only being able to buy 1 of any type of item at a time is a pain. Like why do I need to keep entering/exiting the dressing room? Just let me put what I wanna buy in a cart and buy it all at once. Depending on your style of game play things like this can make and otherwise fun game seem like a chore.


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## mayortiffany (Oct 13, 2020)

I think despise is a bit of a strong word to describe how I feel about the game; disappointment is probably a bit more apt. I have about 400+ hours and I got the game on release.

I've been playing Animal Crossing since Wild World.  My favourite things to do in the game have always tended to be interacting with NPCs and villagers and fishing/catching bugs/diving, and my favourite title is New Leaf.

Here are some things that I dislike, and why:

*Lack of NPCs. *I like being able to see my town developed, with different buildings to go into, and different NPCs in my town that are available. I liked being able to get my fortune told by Katrina and to get a badge or buy a balloon from Phineas. I miss being able to see these NPCs, and am not sure if they will ever come back in updates.
*Lack of furniture variety. *I'm not big into decoration, but when I do decorate, I like having a range of objects to choose from. The selection of furniture in this game has left me a bit wanting, especially for more whimsical or luxurious pieces. I especially miss Gracie Grace and the Sweets and Princess sets. Overall, I feel like this game really appeals to people who enjoy decorating, but perhaps does not have as much for people who are not interested in those things.
*Lack of sense of progression. *There are no Nook shop updates, nor the ability to bring in any new NPCs to the town... again, maybe this will come in future updates, but I liked having something actionable to try and work towards in my game to build my town up. I am not a big decoration fan, so terraforming does not really capture my interest. I have only terraformed a very limited part of my island.
*Lack of mini games. *I wish something like Tortimer's Island or Desert Island Escape could come back. I liked being able to play different things in Animal Crossing to mix up my play sessions.
*Villager dialogue. *I find it rather bland. I wish that my villagers would say more unique things, so that they wouldn't essentially be clones of each other but in different bodies. I find myself talking to them a lot less than I used to, which is a shame... I always loved being able to chat with my villagers daily, and now, I do not see too much of a point.
*Crafting. *It is a cool new addition to the game, but a few months in, I'm a bit over it. It's so darn slow! I spent a lot of my Saturday just crafting enough fish bait to make my way through the tournament and get my last trophy. I think I spent more time looking for clams and crafting than I did actually fishing. I wish that we wouldn't have to farm this and that to be able to customize and create furniture. I would love to be able to customize pre-made furniture, as we used to be able to, and to not have furniture colours locked to a particular account.
*QoL. *There's a lot in this category, from being able to buy multiple items at once in Able's or even to increase storage to very long and repetitive dialogue from some NPCs.


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## Lanstar (Oct 13, 2020)

Some of the huge haters of the game are those that have loved older games so much that they expected this one to have every strength of those games within it. Then they set themselves up for disaster, seeing that it's missing many of those features - and they completely overlook every single other aspect this game has.

I.e.: They're so enthralled with the past games that they can't look at this new game and see it for what it is. They want their Rococo Furniture SO badly that they could care less about everything else new about the game - and even trash features like terraforming just because they desire such precious furniture to quealm their mind.

What adds to this issue is the nature of Animal Crossing in itself. It's considered a 'Life simulation game' - And such games are the most hyper-expandable cauldrons to add tons and tons of additional features. Thus, it's constantly in subject to tons of ways to improve itself - Making it preceived as heavily barebones. Such issue can make people focus so much on what is missing in this cauldron that they forget what really is in it - Even if there is plenty of things inside.


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## Mr.Fox (Oct 13, 2020)

mayortiffany said:


> I think despise is a bit of a strong word to describe how I feel about the game; disappointment is probably a bit more apt. I have about 400+ hours and I got the game on release.
> 
> I've been playing Animal Crossing since Wild World.  My favourite things to do in the game have always tended to be interacting with NPCs and villagers and fishing/catching bugs/diving, and my favourite title is New Leaf.
> 
> ...


Lack of mini games is a huge thing for me. That's why I've got my fingers crossed for a Desert Island Escape 2.0. I do also miss hide n seek like most people...seeing a bear/hippo/elephant/rhino trying to hide behind a street lamp is pretty entertaining.


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## Matt0106 (Oct 13, 2020)

I can totally see why everyone would be comparing it to New Leaf. BUT, New Horizons has added quite a bit in terms of customizing your island, which is something that I think REALLY adds a whole new dimension to the game. I know it's lacking furniture and the dialogue can be weak at times. 

But seriously, we are now given the option to make our islands look like whatever we want. No more resetting because Town Hall is too close to a cliff, or not liking where the Plaza is located (Yes, people reset for RS but bare with me). They're going to bring back those famous series we all know and love, the characters we miss, and I'm sure much more. It will all come in due time. Yes, it sucks we have to wait, but hey, I never cared for Halloween, but now I'm decorating my whole island with the spooky set and I LOVE IT. 

Just have faith lol.


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## maria110 (Oct 13, 2020)

mayortiffany said:


> I think despise is a bit of a strong word to describe how I feel about the game; disappointment is probably a bit more apt. I have about 400+ hours and I got the game on release.
> 
> I've been playing Animal Crossing since Wild World.  My favourite things to do in the game have always tended to be interacting with NPCs and villagers and fishing/catching bugs/diving, and my favourite title is New Leaf.
> 
> ...



Thanks for this post.  I love NH and have played a lot of hours.  I have never played another AC or any video game before this (well, not since Atari 2600 / Space Invaders; I'm old).  But I'm getting to the point where it's harder to stay interested.  I think if the game included the features you mention, I might not feel this way.   I am thinking of trying NL for this reason.  AC has been a great stress reliever this year and I don't want to lose it due to boredom or game burnout.  I think it's a shame that my beloved cranky villagers all say the same things.  And the crafting and QoL problems are kind of ridiculous.  Sometimes I feel like the game developers are deliberately trying to make in-game life annoying so it has verisimilitude.   But I don't want that kind of verisimilitude.


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## Corrie (Oct 13, 2020)

mayortiffany said:


> I think despise is a bit of a strong word to describe how I feel about the game; disappointment is probably a bit more apt. I have about 400+ hours and I got the game on release.
> 
> I've been playing Animal Crossing since Wild World.  My favourite things to do in the game have always tended to be interacting with NPCs and villagers and fishing/catching bugs/diving, and my favourite title is New Leaf.
> 
> ...


This sums up my thoughts perfectly. I don't hate the game but it has its issues that are getting harder and harder to ignore as I play more and more. That said, I'm still playing so what does that tell you?


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## Fye (Oct 13, 2020)

Jassiii said:


> But that's the smaller side of my complaints, my bigger complaint would be the dialogue. I miss how mean the snooty and cranky villagers were at first-- that was their whole charm ! Also, they just say the same things all the time-- it's just so boring. All the villagers feel even more like cookie-cutter cut-outs than ever before  I feel like dialogue wise, the Normals and Lazies seem to have the worst of it-- which makes me sad because my all time favorite villager is Vesta and her dialogue is so...lackluster. _sigh _
> 
> I really love this game, it gives me somewhere to escape too ! But these are little things that rub me wrong personally, I still love my villagers I just wish there was more life to them.


This is one of my few complaints about New Horizons so far. I'm loving the terraforming, outdoor decorations, crafting, and now farming. And I can live with the limited furniture and NPCs since I'm sure they'll add more in future updates just as they have so far. But the dialogue is really a step down from previous titles. Crankies and Snooties really can't be called that anymore because there is absolutely no negativity there. I don't necessarily want them to be mean, and I know back in Wild World they would say some pretty offensive or questionable at best things sometimes but I at least want them to be a little more rude or aloof when they first move in. The way things are you can get the same dialogue the day after they move in and months later when they've given you their photo multiple times. On top of it being terribly repetitive its sad that you don't feel any progress or change in your relationship with the villagers over time. 

And the QoL problems are there too, but its up to the developers if they want to change it or leave it the way it is.


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## tajikey (Oct 13, 2020)

I've played every single day since launch, with no TT'ing. A lot of gripes I've seen center around there not being enough to do, which leads to boredom. When Nintendo announced the release date of the game, they never intended on it being played so heavily, as it has been thanks to the pandemic.

As far as I see it, the game as it is now is exactly as Nintendo intends for it to be. I don't think Nintendo is purposely withholding features, nor do I think this game was meant to be a conglomeration of all the good things past games had (which is 100% subjective anyhow)...terraforming and crafting set this game apart from its predecessors, and I feel the ACNH team did a great job evolving the series into what it is now.


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## John Wick (Oct 13, 2020)

It's not a good AC game.

It's not fun or relaxing.

It's missing so many items and furniture sets.

It's tedious and a grind.

I can't even....


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## TheKryptoKnight (Oct 13, 2020)

Glad you posted this thread, because I feel the same way 

The soundtrack is my second favorite in the series.

The dialogue is improved over New Leaf. It could be better and is not the best in the series (that goes to WW and GCN), but I'm playing both games every day, and the dialogue is way way waaaaaaay worse in new leaf and it's honestly not even close. The dialogue complaint blows my mind more than any other gripe, because the dialogue in New Leaf is soooooo much worse, and I honestly think people are remembering something that was never true.

For the first time in the series, we got a total furniture refresh, instead of the same models being ported forward. I understand missing items, but people used to complain about things being too copy and paste before. 

I just mostly disengage when someone is super negative about the game, because everyone is entitled to their opinion and whatever. But I feel VERY VERY strongly in the opposite direction.


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## Jinglefruit (Oct 13, 2020)

I wouldn't say I hate NH, but I am disappointed. Largely I think the blame here falls on the planned update cycle though. The game released (and imo still is) far too stripped back for a 5th installation. 

I firmly believe they have all the updates and content developed already as they have stated multiple times that the game started developmment in 2012 (https://www.washingtonpost.com/vide...-changes-like-gender-expression-terraforming/), and keep saying questionable things in interviews - like going into detail on new villager designs, but there are only 8? Plus things found in the games code - like villager dialog about features we don't have, and that message pop up if you put items by the dock that you're blocking access. 

I think really it all boils down to this being a great game for newbies, but if you've played recent installments it's a bad sequal. Too many big features cut out, and when this is updating alongside a spin-off mobile game, which is getting huge new furniture ad event updates more frequently, and with much better items it leaves a sour taste behind. Adding that the last game, and the spin-off HHD both also had better furniture choices - and decorating features that still aren't in NH! - it just paints a bad image. It really feels like they said, "well the last game came out in 2012, and our target audience is around teenage years, so they won't remember ACNL, they were too young back then!" And just threw all the good bits of the game out to add back later. 

Another sticking point for me is the generational gaps we've had. ACGC - ACWW stripped things back, but was also going from home console to handheld so it was forgivable. WW - CF, and CF - NL both improved in every area, adding villagers, songs, furniture, buildings and features. Then comes NH, a jump from handheld to an equivalent home console, and we have removed more villagers than added, only a few new KK songs, and vastly less furniture, buildings and features. 

I can see that things are on the release path for future updates. But this just isn't the sort of game to be pulling this kind of thing imo. Animal Crossing does not have any problems retaining players normally, but this game has seen more of my friends quit playing within 6 months, than any previous game has. And I think burnout is the wrong word to use here, it's boredom. Bored of seeing the same few items in Nooklings, bored of the lack of events while Pocket Camp is having it's weekly swarm of neon bugs, bored of visiting a friend to just chat because there's nothing else to do after you've toured their town once. And probably lastly, I imagine a lot of people are getting bored of hearing these negative opinions, but this is the first AC game to have opinions slowly souring in this way, and I think that speaks louder than any individual post here.


I feel like the more I've thought on this, the longer this went on for, painting probably the wrong image of my opinion considering my 800+ hours playtime, but you did ask to hear why people aren't happy?


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## Uffe (Oct 14, 2020)

Lack of dialog, no mini games like there used to be on Tortimer Island. I feel like the people who would prevent others from leaving the island are to blame for this missing. Missing furniture and missing house decor. Up until this point, the modern series was my favorite. It has been in Animal Crossing since day one and they removed it. They removed the rococo, astro, gorgeous, sleek, and so much other cool furniture items that were in the last game. Maybe we'll see more stuff in the future. That being said, I think we should all play Animal Crossing on the GameCube. That game had it all, and there are a lot of things in that game that have just gone missing as the series went on.


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## niko@kamogawa (Oct 14, 2020)

Honestly, I don't like the word "despise" or "hate." Otherwise, people here won't even bother playing and clocking those huge amount of hours.

For my case, I do see this latest instalment as a success. I noticed my playing time drastically increased since New Leaf. In fact, I already clocked more hours in New Horizons. Despite lacking a lot of features from previous games, we can't really discount the visual improvements and enhancements Nintendo added. Not only that, they also provide us free updates from time to time making the game fresh each month.

I would rather raise a question to see why people are focusing into the negative side of things. Is it because of social media nowadays that people can now easily vent their grievances?


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## bebebese (Oct 14, 2020)

@Jinglefruit this game is missing far too much to have been in development since 2012  Do you have a source for any of these interviews? The one from around the time of the game's launch gave me the impression that only the bunny day update was ready to go.

That's what my biggest gripe with NH is, that it's missing so much for an animal crossing title on switch. The fact that there's only been one Nook's Cranny upgrade is bizarre to me (although as others have pointed out in previous threads, what's the point of a bigger shop if there's no increased furniture selection to go with it). 

The game just feels like it's stalled, for me. I think the update system sort of put an artificial time lock on things. I still play every day, but some days it's just to water flowers or check the post. With older entries, that stage of play took years to reach, not months.


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## John Wick (Oct 14, 2020)

Honestly, I think it's because it has the means to be the perfect game, and the devs didn't go with that.

Everything is there!
The items, furniture, house styles, dead trees, mannequins, the missing PWP's like the windmill and zen bell, etc.

I think they want to see how desperately we want the NL items back, then hit us with paid DLC.

At that point, I'm out for good.


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## Jinglefruit (Oct 14, 2020)

bebebese said:


> @Jinglefruit this game is missing far too much to have been in development since 2012  Do you have a source for any of these interviews? The one from around the time of the game's launch gave me the impression that only the bunny day update was ready to go.
> 
> That's what my biggest gripe with NH is, that it's missing so much for an animal crossing title on switch. The fact that there's only been one Nook's Cranny upgrade is bizarre to me (although as others have pointed out in previous threads, what's the point of a bigger shop if there's no increased furniture selection to go with it).
> 
> The game just feels like it's stalled, for me. I think the update system sort of put an artificial time lock on things. I still play every day, but some days it's just to water flowers or check the post. With older entries, that stage of play took years to reach, not months.





			https://www.washingtonpost.com/video-games/2020/03/23/nintendo-explains-philosophy-behind-animal-crossings-big-changes-like-gender-expression-terraforming/
		


That is the original interview after NH released where they stated working on NH from 2012. 
The villager development one was sometime over the summer but I seem to have gone past it when looking and can't quite remember when abouts it was. It came before the 'how we design villagers' showcase here: 
https://www.siliconera.com/nintendo...-new-horizons-lovable-villagers-were-created/This one doesn't call out timings, however it is suspicious that they bring this up with such detail when we only have 8 new villagers. It would have been a better fit for ACNL where they added over 100, and clearly put a lot of work into differentiating between villagers and even added 2 new species.


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## bebebese (Oct 14, 2020)

Jinglefruit said:


> https://www.washingtonpost.com/video-games/2020/03/23/nintendo-explains-philosophy-behind-animal-crossings-big-changes-like-gender-expression-terraforming/
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Thank you! I think I know the villager development one you're talking about.
So... development since 2012... And this is what they have to show for it... OTL


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## Jinglefruit (Oct 14, 2020)

bebebese said:


> Thank you! I think I know the villager development one you're talking about.
> So... development since 2012... And this is what they have to show for it... OTL



Updated my previous post(s) with a bit more, and the villager deelopment one. I know there was something over the Summer where they went into timelines of designing new characters and it was vastly misaligned with everything we know about their development loop. But yeah, they clearly have a very short working day if it took 8 years to make a game with less to do and less content than the original N64/GC game.

I would also say, take it with a grain of salt (in all respects!), because the AC producers also forgot that WW had online capabilities in another interview: https://mynintendonews.com/2020/06/...-as-the-start-of-the-series-third-generation/


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## Eureka (Oct 14, 2020)

I can never really understand when people say the game is underdeveloped or lacking content. I really don't think majority of us would have hundreds of hours if that was the case. What they mean to say is it is lacking the content they want, which is fair enough I guess.



bebebese said:


> So... development since 2012... And this is what they have to show for it... OTL



What they have to show for it is the second best selling Nintendo game to date and for good reason.


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## Manah (Oct 14, 2020)

I don't hate the game, it's just that it isn't what I want out of an AC game. Mind you, I've only played New Leaf before.

I generally enjoy games that let me collect a ton of things and use them for customization, so no issues in that department. The big difference, though, for me:

NL was a game I played daily for two years, because it felt like a place to live in. There wasn't actually THAT much collecting to be done, and I didn't even do much of anything building related outside of my house. But I had fun just existing in that world.

NH, on the other hand, does not feel like a living world to me. It's a building project. It's mine to shape and everything (and everyone) in it exists to serve as a piece of my creation. Sure, it's great to be able to build a place just like I want it. But it's just that. It doesn't work as a world independent of you, and as such feels artificial despite all the pretty things in it. And if I don't have new pretty things to collect or a project to work on, I don't feel like spending time there.


Edit: here's a comment I wrote on another site some time ago:



> I'm not sure if incomplete is the right word, but the game feels less organic than New Leaf.
> 
> In NL, things just happened occasionally. Isabelle gave you items for smaller events, the badge guy (forgot his name) showed up for achievements, someone gets an idea for a new building, villagers are looking forward to big holidays (and in some cases you make preparations before the events starts, like collecting Halloween candy/costumes.)
> 
> In NH it's all menus. You buy special items from the Nook terminal, there's a strict one visitor per day schedule (new shops/functions just get added to that), and instead of learning about upcoming events through your ingame villagers we get update trailers outside the game and then the event is just there, without any build up. It all feels very artificial to me.


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## TheDuke55 (Oct 14, 2020)

I doubt anyone here really hates/despises the game. Otherwise they wouldn't be sticking around. Most people are just disappointed at the end result so far. 

Yes, there are things coming back with the updates. But it's close to 7 months and we haven't gotten the basic stuff that we know will come back like the roost and nook's 3rd upgrade. Animal Crossing had you watch your town progress (more so in NL) but now you just have to wait until a update trailer possibly drops it. You can work as hard on your island as you want or just come back a year later and we will all be getting the same prize. It's not really that rewarding and if there are not any prerequisites to get the Roost like there was in the other games it's going to feel a bit cheap.

The villager's have also been gutted considerably (as has the furniture variety) and interacting with them in the many ways the other games offered was always one of my more favorite parts. Now I just run past them because I can talk to them until they force me out of dialogue and I never get them to say anything unique.

This is also the least chill the series has been so far, for me. I remember getting my first burn-out with the scripted tutorial. It droned on for too long, if you ask me. There wasn't any reason why music had to be locked. I feel like this could had been handled better. I have enough resources now, but that was a slog getting everything done. Especially having to craft the first 3 villagers houses. That really didn't feel like the AC spirit to me.

I could get behind the whole two starter animals only if the way the others came was a bit different. I don't know, like instead of island jumping to find one they occasionally were walking around your island or shipwrecked on the beach like Gulliver. As it was, I was decking out their houses before I even started to do that with mine.


With that said, I still like playing it. But it's definitely not my favorite in the series. That may change depending on what they add and or fix in coming updates.


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## Corrie (Oct 14, 2020)

Jinglefruit said:


> https://www.washingtonpost.com/video-games/2020/03/23/nintendo-explains-philosophy-behind-animal-crossings-big-changes-like-gender-expression-terraforming/
> 
> 
> 
> ...


this is the most pathetic news I've heard in awhile. It's like they stopped working on it from 2013-2019 and then panicked and released whatever half assed thing we got. With how little features we have and how many things are missing, I fail to believe they were hard at work for all those years. It just doesn't add up.


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## Jinglefruit (Oct 14, 2020)

Witchy_Trixie said:


> I can never really understand when people say the game is underdeveloped or lacking content. I really don't think majority of us would have hundreds of hours if that was the case.


Idk, I have over 3000 hours in New leaf, heck I have like 1000 in HHD, and not once did I felt burnt out. I was severely crashing in NH at 500. 



Manah said:


> and instead of learning about upcoming events through your ingame villagers we get update trailers outside the game and then the event is just there, without any build up. It all feels very artificial to me.


Actually, this is a huge point. I currently know there is nothing I'm interested in going on until 31st of October, and after that 1 day, nothing until the next trailer tells me what's next. As such, it's highly unlikely I'll play more than 2-3 days before the next update releases in like 4 weeks. 



Corrie said:


> this is the most pathetic news I've heard in awhile. It's like they stopped working on it from 2013-2019 and then panicked and released whatever half assed thing we got. With how little features we have and how many things are missing, I fail to believe they were hard at work for all those years. It just doesn't add up.


Well we did get 2 splatoon games in that time, so I wouldn't expect them to be nose to the grind stone the whole time, but still.


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## Corrie (Oct 14, 2020)

Jinglefruit said:


> Idk, I have over 3000 hours in New leaf, heck I have like 1000 in HHD, and not once did I felt burnt out. I was severely crashing in NH at 500.
> 
> 
> Actually, this is a huge point. I currently know there is nothing I'm interested in going on until 31st of October, and after that 1 day, nothing until the next trailer tells me what's next. As such, it's highly likely I will be play more than 2-3 days before the next update releases in like 4 weeks.
> ...


That's fair. I just think that releasing a game before its clearly ready is just bad practice. I would have waited another year to get a better product than what we got. To me, the game can be classified as "a great start."


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## Jacob4 (Oct 14, 2020)

i definitely don't despise it but there are a lot of things i hate about the game

- forcibly stuck with hourly music that a lot of people including myself find mediocre or just flat out bad
- bad QoL decisions that should have already been fixed but just haven't been, making the game very tedious in places (crafting/customising is hell since you can't do multiples in one go, dialogue being unnecessarily long in many places, changing room in able sisters being bad because you can't buy multiple of the same type of clothing in one go, tool durability being a mechanic that cannot be avoided, only being able to scrap/build one bridge/incline per day and move one building per day, not being able to move a building to a place where the same building occupies space meaning you have to move it somewhere else entirely and then back to where you want it if you want to move the building like 1/2 squares, co-op being dumb, etc)
- very little incentive to have people come to your island or for you to go to other people's islands (the only things i can think of are just burning time which really shouldn't even count as a reason, "look at my island it so pretty" which is already more conveniently done via dreaming mechanic, playing your own mini games that you've created because there aren't any in the game for ??? reasons, or trading/giveaways)
- general lack of content that otherwise existed in ACNL (more shop upgrades, more buildings, furniture, etc)
- villager dialogue being lacklustre, there are so many ways they could have made villagers unique and interesting but they just didn't
- probably more things that i've forgotten

it's annoying because almost all the fundamental ideas of this game bar the ideas for multiplayer (or rather lack of ideas in terms of online multiplayer) are absolutely very good in my opinion, but the execution in many places was just wrong or lacking

that being said, i can imagine quite a few of the things i've pointed out could be remedied in later updates, really the game can only go up from here


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## TheDuke55 (Oct 14, 2020)

This kind of thread comes up every so often. We all just have to agree that everyone is not going to 'love' or 'hate' the game or whatever is in question. These kinds of threads are good because no one should blindly praise or hate on something. There are flaws that should always be addressed, as is there are things they did right.

But to say this game is 'A steaming pile of crap with no redeeming qualities' or 'This is the best game ever, I can't fathom why anyone would criticize it' isn't helping anyone.


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## John Wick (Oct 14, 2020)

Witchy_Trixie said:


> I can never really understand when people say the game is underdeveloped or lacking content. I really don't think majority of us would have hundreds of hours if that was the case. What they mean to say is it is lacking the content they want, which is fair enough I guess.
> 
> 
> 
> What they have to show for it is the second best selling Nintendo game to date and for good reason.


Stats don't mean it's a great game.
It means a crapload of folks bought it, expecting it to be at the very least, on a par with it's predecessor.

It doesn't mean they liked it.


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## TheDuke55 (Oct 14, 2020)

John Wick said:


> P
> Stats don't mean it's a great game.
> It means a crapload of folks bought it, expecting it to be at the very least, on a par with it's predecessor.
> 
> It doesn't mean they liked it.


You have to take in consideration, this also came out during the beginning of the pandemic when states were shutting down. The huge sales were that of the old-time fans and those who wanted to try something during their lockdown. The pandemic definitely helped with their sale numbers. It would had been nice if we could look into some alternate reality where covid never happened and see what the numbers would be.

This was also the first game of Animal Crossing that really got a social media scene. Most of the other titles kind of just slipped through the crack. It became a total rat race with everyone trying to show off their perfect island. I'm not sure how heavily affected that was due to the lockdown or because of the Switch's built in recording.


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## Imbri (Oct 14, 2020)

I'm willing to go along with some of the QoL items people have mentioned - dressing room and bulk crafting limits. Those would be great to have (although the badges for crafting would have to be adjusted to compensate), but I can live with it.

Short answer is that a lot of people seem to want this to be New Leaf: The Island Version. It isn't. 

We aren't supposed to have everything right away. It was a deserted island, to start. Six months or so in, I think we have a pretty good variety of items. The idea of things rolling out and becoming more sophisticated as time goes on makes sense. Things shouldn't be done, set in stone, or completed yet. Even my museum is about half full. That's what I think makes it a good game.


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## GothiqueBat (Oct 15, 2020)

As someone yet to play the game,  but watched hours of youtubers game play/ streams,  to me this looks like a game I would personally absolutely love and have been dreaming for.  Just also hopeing most of the flaws mentioned in this thread are addressed in future updates. -like the lack of furniture and NPCs,  I'm sure they will come back..  I'm sure..

Would just like to add a point that no one has seemed to have mentioned that was made by my friends a couple of days ago who got the game around launch but one completely dropped it,  and the other plays it but have a love/have towards it; (both played new leaf, not sure if any of the older ones)

If your a kid or someone who can't afford to get the online membership every month,  that is already limiting the social element to the game and then on top of that,  there's no meeting strangers and being able to chat for hours like there was in New Leaf on the island.  -- that's actually how I met these said friends,   and I know for a lot of people that online meeting strangers and talking was a massive appeal to some new leaf players,  at least on the UK servers there was a community feel and I'd encounter the same people pretty often and it was nice to gossip,  catch up and just have fun.   The people I got close to,  we ended up exchanging friend codes and often used the BFF chat to message daily.  The joy of the going to a friend's Island and then meeting someone new,  I'm sure is still a thing in New Horizons,   but there was 'drama' in role-playing and we'd often exchange stories and hear about other people,  then somehow meet them through another friend?? That's a kind of magical community that isn't their anymore in NH and at least for my friends I met in New leaf,  that really killed new horizons for them.

But at the same time,  there's forums like the Bell tree,  that do provide that community feel,  although a lot bigger and global,  it is still there.
And from my POV that island feature was an exclusive feature to new leaf,  other animal crossing games never had that,  in the same way there's other things that only existed in the other games,  like the game cube inside mini games and house gyroids,  the city with the bus ride in city folk..  And the.....  Uniqueness.... of the wild world...? (Lyle asking for health insurance maybe?)

Just if they do put anything in nh behind a pay wall im going to start a riot,  I'm too poor


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## Eureka (Oct 15, 2020)

John Wick said:


> Stats don't mean it's a great game.
> It means a crapload of folks bought it, expecting it to be at the very least, on a par with it's predecessor.
> 
> It doesn't mean they liked it.



Yes, I'm well aware of that. However, more often than not things get hugely popular for a reason (usually it is because a large group enjoys the game). New Horizons has stayed at top of the sales too. Not like it had a huge release then dropped off because it was bad. It isn't everyone's cup of tea, that is fine. We all have personal preferences. To one person it's the best Animal Crossing game ever made, but to someone else it could be the worst.

Edit to add: The game has good reviews too across the board, to go with the insanely high sale numbers. Again, that doesn't mean everyone is going to like it though!


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## TheDuke55 (Oct 15, 2020)

High sale numbers doesn't always mean something is flawless. And that is what we are saying, which you are ignoring. You even brought up the same point about the sale numbers.

You know what else had huge sale numbers, had a fanbase raving about it before it came out, and a year later I couldn't get a read on if it was worth it or not? The OuterWorlds. It was hailed as the messiah of what everyone hoped Fallout 4 would had become. I liked Fallout 4, but yeah it could had been better.

It was made by the company that created Fallout NewVegas which is seen by many fans as one of the better entries in the 3D Fallout series. Obsidian was kind of screwed by Bethesda. So when they announced they were working on OW, the game hadn't even launched and reviews were pouring it praising something that didn't even come out yet. They were throwing it on a higher pedestal than it should had been. I played it. It's alright. 6/10 at best, but for the longest time people were all over the place with the reviews. And the pre-release craze did not help.

Same thing when I watched the season 1 finale of Korra. I hated how they handled it. I was so disappointed that I went to a forum I frequent to see how everyone reacted. They loved it. I was sure I watched something different. They just didn't come off of their glow yet, as a few weeks later they started to realize how bad it was.

I like New Horizon, don't get me wrong. But reviews from when the game first came out, 1 year from its release, and at the end of its life are going to tell a story depending on how the content and updates are handled. At this point, if this is all they would offer us for this game and no more updates came, I'd probably give it a 6/10.


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## Eureka (Oct 15, 2020)

TheDuke55 said:


> High sale numbers doesn't always mean something is flawless. And that is what we are saying, which you are ignoring. You even brought up the same point about the sale numbers.



Huh? Please show me where I said high sale numbers = flawless. I never did because it isn't true, so I'm not ignoring anything. I strictly talked about how something is usually massively popular for a reason (ie a large group enjoys it). That doesn't mean it is flawless!


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## Noel_in_Sunrise (Oct 15, 2020)

I know that there are people that want to have faith, and that is a totally legitimate perspective/ way of approaching things, but I worry when I see these people count on the future updates so much. There is no roadmap for the updates and no guarantees about which features will be added. The fact that they have not added multi-crafting yet makes me concerned that they don't intend to. I do not have any way of gauging what the game will be, just what it is.
I read an interview at some point where a developer for the game said that they would like to do updates for the next three years, but my suspicion is that updates will be much lighter after the first year. If I am right, we might have seen a much larger chunk of what is going to be added than people are assuming. I would like to be wrong about that, but I think the possibility is worth keeping in mind. 
My theory is that the updates were originally intended to add in all the festivals, and then additionally the features they had partially finished at the time of launch. I cannot be sure that updates were intended to add major new features beyond those that were bring worked on before launch. 
My point is that for those of us who do not have faith in the updates (I can't be the only one, right?), potential future updates do not soothe us about current problems that we see.


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## Mezzanine (Oct 15, 2020)

The number one reason is it costs more than ever and is badly fleshed out compared to almost every previous game.


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## Heartcore (Oct 15, 2020)

I think that AC is one of those series that people are *super* passionate about. We expect alot from AC games as each entry as we always get new features and each game feels like a step up from the previous entry. New Horizons, while it does a really good job in many aspects--is definitely a weaker entry in the AC universe as compared to alot of other games. It doesn't feel fleshed out, villager interactions feel flat and lifeless, and there just aren't a ton of new features that make it feel like an Animal Crossing game. It doesn't feel finished and a lot of people had very high hopes for this game since New Leaf was the best AC game since Wild World. It felt like they were making strides in the right direction and the game just kind of...fell flat.


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## TheKryptoKnight (Oct 15, 2020)

Witchy_Trixie said:


> Huh? Please show me where I said high sale numbers = flawless. I never did because it isn't true, so I'm not ignoring anything. I strictly talked about how something is usually massively popular for a reason (ie a large group enjoys it). That doesn't mean it is flawless!



I mean, you can completely ignore sales numbers. The other thing you mentioned is the stronger point. We have hundreds of hours in the game, and wouldn't if it was lacking content. It's INSANE to say a game you've played for 400+ hours is lacking in content, but here we are. But again, I completely disagree with the negative/pessimistic folks here so . Game's great. Better than new leaf.


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## John Wick (Oct 15, 2020)

COVID.

That explains the many hours.


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## Neprezi (Oct 15, 2020)

Hooo boy. Believe me, I love NH and I've spent a lot of time on it, but this game has a LOT of problems:

*Why can't you craft multiple of an item at once? I was super excited for the introduction of fish bait only to find out you're forced to craft it 1 by 1, it's incredibly tedious.

*Why does mables not allow you to select multiple items from the same category to purchase in the dressing room? There's no good reason you should keep having to re-enter the dressing room over and over again.

*Why do the wands not allow you to save hairstyles/eye/skin colors to an outfit?

*Speaking of the wands, why do you have to detransform in order to change clothes?

*Villager dialogue is UNBELIEVABLY repetitive in this game. I can only think of a few times in all my years of playing new leaf that I ran into the same dialogue again, but here even though I hardly talk to my villagers 4/5 times they just say the same thing they've already said. Why is the amount of dialogue seemingly so limited?

*Fewer ways to interact with your villagers. They hardly ever give quests, AFAIK things like hide n go seek & time capsules also don't exist anymore. It feels like there's very little reason to talk to them, especially when they're probably just gonna recycle dialogue anyways

*Dear mother of god, the online in this game is *complete ass*. It's a neverending cycle of watching the 5 minute long arriving/leaving cutscene, constant disconnects, and for some ungodly reason giving people the ability to "leave quietly" which completely screws over literally EVERYONE else on the island. And yes, I do know the dodo cutscene is just the games loading screen, but the load times were never this bad in NL.

*The NPCs talk way too damn much in this game. Talking to CG, Saharah, Flip, and especially the dodos is just a constant button mash fest. The fact that saharahs dialogue was patched to make buying her stuff quicker makes it seem like the devs are aware of this problem. Ironically, the only NPC who I've felt doesnt talk too much is _Blathers_ of all people

And these are just some examples off the top of my head. Overall, this game feels weirdly clunky and outdated compared to most modern games. Many of these could be easily patched, but who knows if that'll happen.


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## NatsumiSummer (Oct 15, 2020)

John Wick said:


> COVID.
> 
> That explains the many hours.



That doesn't. 

If a game sucks, you wouldn't play it for more than 100 hours.. COVID or no COVID. 

Or are you saying that you'd play a **** game because of COVID because you have 0 other games to play?


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## TheKryptoKnight (Oct 15, 2020)

Neprezi said:


> *Villager dialogue is UNBELIEVABLY repetitive in this game. I can only think of a few times in all my years of playing new leaf that I ran into the same dialogue again, but here even though I hardly talk to my villagers 4/5 times they just say the same thing they've already said. Why is the amount of dialogue seemingly so limited?



I'm playing new leaf and new horizons concurrently right now. I dialogue is 1000x more repetitive in New Leaf. Talk to a villager 10 times in NL, they'll repeat the same dialogue 4-5 times. Talk to a villager 10 times in a row in NH, they'll say 10 different things. I can see preferring NL dialogue, because opinions are subjective, but NL is objectively more repetitive.

	Post automatically merged: Oct 15, 2020



NatsumiSummer said:


> That doesn't.
> 
> If a game sucks, you wouldn't play it for more than 100 hours.. COVID or no COVID.
> 
> Or are you saying that you'd play a **** game because of COVID because you have 0 other games to play?


No, obviously new horizons was the only game in existence during covid, so we had to put hundreds of hours into it as gamers.


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## TheDuke55 (Oct 15, 2020)

Ah yes now the thread just derails into everyone smack talking each other about why they're insane to like/hate the game. The order is restored.


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## NatsumiSummer (Oct 15, 2020)

TheDuke55 said:


> Ah yes now the thread just derails into everyone smack talking each other about why they're insane to like/hate the game. The order is restored.




I had to make this thread, or the universe would have imploded in on itself from the lack of balance xD


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## Neprezi (Oct 15, 2020)

TheKryptoKnight said:


> I'm playing new leaf and new horizons concurrently right now. I dialogue is 1000x more repetitive in New Leaf. Talk to a villager 10 times in NL, they'll repeat the same



I know this is anecdotal evidence, but this honestly has not been my experience in this game at all. Even aside from the repetitive normal dialogue (I swear I've seen the jock "MUSCLE MADNESS!" bit like 100 times now) If you do online hosting, or if there's an event like halloween or a fishing tourney that's all your villagers will talk about. The fact that my villagers noticed I put pumpkins up around the island was cute and cool the first time, but it's annoying to keep getting it when you just want to have a normal chat with your villagers.


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## Dunquixote (Oct 15, 2020)

TheKryptoKnight said:


> I mean, you can completely ignore sales numbers. The other thing you mentioned is the stronger point. We have hundreds of hours in the game, and wouldn't if it was lacking content. It's INSANE to say a game you've played for 400+ hours is lacking in content, but here we are. But again, I completely disagree with the negative/pessimistic folks here so . Game's great. Better than new leaf.



I honestly don’t think it is insane to say a game is lacking in content that you’ve played 400+ hours for. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions. I think both sides make valid points. 

I enjoy playing this game very much and agree in some ways it is better than NL. However, I am concerned with the amount of content lacking after this much time since it was released. What i feel is lacking is furniture, in some ways customization options (i realize we do have more options for some but some options we had in the past like antique bed, we have no customization option), nook store upgrade, room size. This is my personal opinion; I admit I am one that took all of the furniture choices in NL and HHD for granted and advantage of them, which is  part of the reason my expectations were so high and why I am disappointed with some (not everything) of what I have now. If anyone does not feel that the game isn’t lacking in some shape of form, then that’s great  I mean it.  Just be aware that not everyone feels the same. 

I am also concerned about the content being locked behind a subscription that we had for free in NL and  about their decision to fix something that they could’ve easily fixed right away, but instead chose to fix it before the amiibo cards are released.


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## TheKryptoKnight (Oct 15, 2020)

There are TONS of valid criticisms of NH. I have no problem with people pointing them out. No bulk crafting, not able to customize colors on furniture with variations, lacking QoL, lacking content from past games. Even things I disagree with like not liking dialogue or hourly tunes... But in these negativity threads everyone starts piling on and criticisms become irrational. There's no way to say the dialogue is more repetitive than NL. If you think it is, you're forgetting New Leaf. It's NOT the best dialogue in the series, GCN or WW are imo... But it's objectively not as repetitive as New leaf.

	Post automatically merged: Oct 15, 2020



Neprezi said:


> I know this is anecdotal evidence, but this honestly has not been my experience in this game at all. Even aside from the repetitive normal dialogue (I swear I've seen the jock "MUSCLE MADNESS!" bit like 100 times now) If you do online hosting, or if there's an event like halloween or a fishing tourney that's all your villagers will talk about. The fact that my villagers noticed I put pumpkins up around the island was cute and cool the first time, but it's annoying to keep getting it when you just want to have a normal chat with your villagers.



I think it's fair to say that there's a problem with the villagers always starting with observational comments. Because if you only talk to each villager once or twice, they're all going to just comment on pumpkins or what you did yesterday. I think maybe they shouldn't front load dialogue with that kind of stuff... Make it so the things they say with the 4th or 5th convo can appear first. Might help. Maybe that is what people mean when they say "repetitive". But as far as one villager repeating the same dialogue verbatim back to back, they don't do it in this game nearly as much as New Leaf. New leaf they do it allllllllllll the time.


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## SoftenedHearts (Oct 15, 2020)

I actually am probably 50/50 split on my feelings. When I sit down to play, I enjoy it quite a lot. The aesthetics and getting to dress up/design my house is what initially got me into the series when I was a kid. That being said, I do miss a lot of the series they cut. It's expected that they're bringing back big things like NPCs and such, but I have a lot of doubt on whether they'll bring back things like the old furniture sets. The mini games/island/museum exhibits are something I'm also bummed about the lack of, though I have more hope for that getting brought back.

And while playing, I don't mind the flatter villager personalities. That being said.... I also pretty much never go out of my way to talk to villagers unless it's for a task/ping. It doesn't bother me much while I'm running around doing the chores, but then when I think about it, it kind of makes me sad when I think of how I just sort of don't care about villagers beyond their looks or if they're someone I was attached to from WW/NL- at least compared to how diehard attached I got to Bones, Del, Apollo, and Merry in previous games. I KINDA feel that way about Paula, but not nearly as strong.

I especially miss the snark of cranky villagers. I will say that all of the villager dialogue has more personality and vibrance than in NL in content, but skipping right to being friends with cranky villagers.... man, at LEAST NL had that. I feel that way with snooty villagers as well, but I've been super partial to cranky villagers and earning their friendship ever since I was a little kid playing WW. And anything with snooty villagers would be a huge improvement from NL, haha!

I will say though also, as someone who's of the "play for a week, put down for a month" sort, this game is MUCH friendlier to that play style, which I appreciate a lot. In the past, that's something that stressed me out due to fear of villagers moving, so I would put off playing again SIGNIFICANTLY longer.

Also a major downside for me, which sounds silly... no moving away letters!! I always held onto and cherished them, but the total lack of them totally broke my heart! Even villagers I didn't care for much, I always felt strongly about holding onto the goodbye letters....


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## TheDuke55 (Oct 15, 2020)

The topic of the title is literally 'I want to know why people despise New Horizon' It was hate at first, but I feel like despise is even too strong. Most of us have said we like it, just are disappointed with certain things. It's like the unpopular threads and people jump at others for having, you guessed it, an unpopular opinion.

Except the dissatisfaction/satisfactions ratio for this game is pretty divided compared to the other games. So that's kind of telling. I'm a pretty easy going person, so for me to voice my concerns you know there's stuff that should be addressed and not just scoffed at.


I'm not going to be that person who says New Leaf had the best dialogue, because I often remember running to one of my two peppy's and both of them regurgitated the same dialogue right after the other. Not all the time, but I still vividly remember how that brought me out of the immersion.

But I also don't care for how the villager's in NH will remark about how you did x, y, or z the other day. It was really old when I was fossil hunting every day and they would always talk about that first. All of the villagers. Or how they'd comment on what I was wearing or holding. I did come across some cool dialogue akin to some of the ones I liked just as much in NL. I just wish it happened more often and wasn't so rare (at least on my gameplay)

One of the things that I think is unnecessary is how the villagers will lowkey have dialogue that seems to border on you being nosy/cling/talking to them too much if you initiate them in conversation more than once. Like I could talk to them in the morning and than my second time could be at night and they'd react in that way. It kind of rubs me in the wrong way.


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## John Wick (Oct 15, 2020)

NatsumiSummer said:


> That doesn't.
> 
> If a game sucks, you wouldn't play it for more than 100 hours.. COVID or no COVID.
> 
> Or are you saying that you'd play a **** game because of COVID because you have 0 other games to play?


Yep. Exactly.

I bought the switch for NH alone, hoping it would be at least, as good as NL.
I have no other games.

It's a fact the pandemic is one of the reasons (not the only reason) for the absurd amount of hours.

Just google it.


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## Neocmiri (Oct 15, 2020)

I thought long and hard over why NH is barely better than my most hated AC game: City Folk.
To begin, no way was this game in development for seven years. The same team behind Animal Crossing made HHD, NL: Welcome Amiibo, Splatoon and Splatoon 2, at best they had three years maximum, one at minimum. So we're already off to a bad start, an outright lie just to make the AC fanbase feel better on why it took so long to get this game.

2nd point: spacing out of content and stuff in the launch version. They're treating the game like its Splatoon and Splatoon 2, which is rightly harming Animal Crossing. For those games, a steady pace of new content is expected in the genre, but Animal Crossing has always been fine with releasing everything it was going to contain at launch. I feel this is the biggest factor hurting it in two ways. First is the fast lack of things to do after an update and second is simply *not knowing* if things like Bunny Day, Reese and Cyrus wedding anniversary or Halloween will be back next year, or will be gone forever once development of updates ends. For all we know, once development ends and the team goes off to make the next game or Splatoon 3, these events may be gone forever and they've never said otherwise.

3rd point: Lack of older items. This is the big tell that the game can't have been in development for seven years. If they'd worked that long, all previous furniture sets would be in the game right now, from Modern to Rococo. Where are they? With the new fruit types that New Leaf got, and no sign they're coming back. Yes we got a lot of items, but frankly, everyone is working from the same pool of them. People have been creative but it still is rather disappointing that even furniture sets that were there from the beginning got the chop and lie on the cutting room floor never to be seen. I will forever miss my modern wood set, it was my favourite.

4th point: Lack of NPCs. I want Brewster back damn it! Everyone does. But we have the same small pool that cycles through a three-four week period. When was the last time anyone found Sahara, Lief or Kicks useful? Or saw Redd at all?

5th point: monotony of crafting certain DIY. This next sentence is for the person at Nintendo who designed fish bait, then made it craft one at a time. Dear person at Nintendo who made fish bait craftable just one at a time, there is a reserved spot in hell for you, with company parking and a car, you earned it.

6th point: wanting to turn the fanbase on Isabelle. "I found a missing sock!", "I watched something on tv and learned the topic puts me to sleep!" "I had a call with my parents." Dear. God. Shut. Up. With. The. Splatoon. News. Clone. Isabelle was actually useful in New Leaf, sure she didn't mention when a guest was in the town palaza, but at least she was still useful. But I guess someone hates her as they clearly made her an annoying parody of herself while copying the "news" from Splatoon and Splatoon 2, and it very much feels like an effort to make Animal Crossing fans hate her and wish her gone. And by saying this and making comparisons, I'm insulting Callie and Marie/Pearl and Marina as at least the Splatoon news thing may happen on each start-up, but it lets you know the current stages in each mode, where here Isabelle is just about as useful as putting out a fire with a single snowflake.

7th point: One by one clothing purchase. To the Nintendo employee who made this choice, please see my sentence to the other person made in point five, you earned that spot too.

8th point: Loading and multiplayer issues. Yep, same to you third Nintendo employee, good job, you earned it with added jaccuzi and choice of torture victim each month. Seriously why do we pay for online with servers that are more fragile than an egg under the tracks of a tank?

Now don't get me completely wrong, New Horizons is a good game, it came at a time where I lost my dad to cancer rapidly, but is it perfect? No, neither was New Leaf (though it was very close). I feel we'd have been slightly better off if it had been delayed again but that would have left no big spring release, and I understand with the global pandemic meaning we have to be distanced to try and help against the COVID virus, that they might have had to delay or even cancel planned updates. Though Sakurai and the team behind Smash Bros got Minecraft Steve to work not just in his own DLC stage, but previous DLC stages and all 108 existing stages from launch in the same situation, the Animal Crossing and Splatoon team could learn something from how he made this happen.

Overall, NH is fun, yes repeating dialogue happens, personalities feel washed down from the older games, but we have a game where we can have an island look exactly how we want it, a first in the series. Could it be better? Without a doubt. That's why I continue to play, because perhaps by the end of update development, it'll be the game that it should have been at launch. And if they can make fish bait multi-craft and give back old furniture sets I'll be even happier as I place my modern wood set back out.


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## gh0st (Oct 15, 2020)

I don’t hate the game but it’s not my favorite. Here’s my reasons:

1) the midday music is very annoying to me. I’m already not a huge fan of the 70s style instruments and melodies used, and it gets really grating for me after like 15 minutes and I have to TT to a different hour; that never happened to me in New Leaf.

2) crafting is interesting but not implemented well. Why don’t items allow you to craft multiple if you have the materials? Just makes pointless busy work. Why can’t I change the color of certain items by crafting? I don’t like that some are locked by needing to find the item and catalogue it.

3) I feel that the overall theme of the furniture and clothing was much more... normified for lack of a better word. Like there isn’t as much extremely quirky/bizarre furniture and clothing sets. Meanwhile there’s like 1000 options for casual wear and college dorm style furniture... like.. I don’t want realistic. I’m playing a video game. I would play the sims if I wanted realistic.

4) terraforming, while an INCREDIBLE concept, is again implemented poorly. Why are destroying and creating the same button? It constantly makes me accidentally destroy what I wanted to create and vice versa.... they could’ve just made build one button and destroy another. Also having to build every single last square one at a time is..... a nightmare. I wish you could select entire areas and raise or lower a level. It would make it so intuitive and fun. Or drawing shapes....

5) we only got like 5 new villagers...........

6) when moving a building, why cant I just move it over like 1 square. Why do I have to move it to a totally different location and back? It wastes time and bells and punishes the player for choosing a spot poorly. I HATE that.

7) why did they take away all the npcs and shops and things you could add to your town? It added variety and interest. Why make the island so bare bones?


anyway.... I could go on but I’ll stop now. Don’t get me wrong, I like this game a lot. But it Isn’t quite what I wanted.


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## John Wick (Oct 15, 2020)

Neocmiri said:


> I thought long and hard over why NH is barely better than my most hated AC game: City Folk.
> To begin, no way was this game in development for seven years. The same team behind Animal Crossing made HHD, NL: Welcome Amiibo, Splatoon and Splatoon 2, at best they had three years maximum, one at minimum. So we're already off to a bad start, an outright lie just to make the AC fanbase feel better on why it took so long to get this game.
> 
> 2nd point: spacing out of content and stuff in the launch version. They're treating the game like its Splatoon and Splatoon 2, which is rightly harming Animal Crossing. For those games, a steady pace of new content is expected in the genre, but Animal Crossing has always been fine with releasing everything it was going to contain at launch. I feel this is the biggest factor hurting it in two ways. First is the fast lack of things to do after an update and second is simply *not knowing* if things like Bunny Day, Reese and Cyrus wedding anniversary or Halloween will be back next year, or will be gone forever once development of updates ends. For all we know, once development ends and the team goes off to make the next game or Splatoon 3, these events may be gone forever and they've never said otherwise.
> ...


Slow hand clap from me.

You nailed it on every point!


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## Neocmiri (Oct 15, 2020)

John Wick said:


> Slow hand clap from me.
> 
> You nailed it on every point!


I actually forgot two points and went back. Yes I got very sarcastic on them but anyone who played/plays understands and I don't need to go into detail as to why they are just so bad.


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## TheDuke55 (Oct 15, 2020)

John Wick said:


> Yep. Exactly.
> 
> I bought the switch for NH alone, hoping it would be at least, as good as NL.
> I have no other games.
> ...


I don't know about everyone else, but I couldn't put the hours into it when it first came out because I had to work through the entire pandemic. And I was often overworked...but I checked on my friends' status every now and then and they got like 400-600 hours in the first month. I curiously checked to see how many hours are regularly in a month and one of them was like 100 hours shy from that.

I know they wouldn't had been able to do that if they were still working or had school.


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## KittenNoir (Oct 15, 2020)

I am really enjoying the game I joined the animal crossing community when I started playing New Leaf back in 2013 and loved it ever since.  I was so keen to get my hands on New Horizons I would watch a new video about it on YouTube everyday and keep checking online for more information about the game and had a countdown to it on all my devices.

What makes me sad is when people say that dislike the game or that they are not  looking forward to certain updates and so on  cause I get super excited about things that are coming up or happening and then I see all negative comments on something that I was looking forward to which puts me in a sad mood


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## TheKryptoKnight (Oct 15, 2020)

KittenNoir said:


> I am really enjoying the game I joined the animal crossing community when I started playing New Leaf back in 2013 and loved it ever since.  I was so keen to get my hands on New Horizons I would watch a new video about it on YouTube everyday and keep checking online for more information about the game and had a countdown to it on all my devices.
> 
> What makes me sad is when people say that dislike the game or that they are not  looking forward to certain updates and so on  cause I get super excited about things that are coming up or happening and then I see all negative comments on something that I was looking forward to which puts me in a sad mood



You're not alone  One thing to always remember is that we're on the internet and negativity is always going to be louder than positivity. I still regularly watch animal crossing YT videos and am pumped for every update!

One thing that's helped me a LOT is unfollowing/blocking certain people who are ALWAYS negative. I definitely don't block everyone who criticizes, criticisms are sometimes legitimate, but if you're finding there are certain people who you can count on like clockwork to be negative about everything... It might help to not see posts from them anymore


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## Dunquixote (Oct 15, 2020)

KittenNoir said:


> I am really enjoying the game I joined the animal crossing community when I started playing New Leaf back in 2013 and loved it ever since.  I was so keen to get my hands on New Horizons I would watch a new video about it on YouTube everyday and keep checking online for more information about the game and had a countdown to it on all my devices.
> 
> What makes me sad is when people say that dislike the game or that they are not  looking forward to certain updates and so on  cause I get super excited about things that are coming up or happening and then I see all negative comments on something that I was looking forward to which puts me in a sad mood



You’re not the only one. In spite of not being completely happy about the game, I do enjoy focusing on the positives in the game, try to look forward to the updates, and discussing them in the threads.


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## John Wick (Oct 15, 2020)

There is also toxic positivity that is hurtful to those of us who are passionate about a game we've loved for many, many years, who do have valid criticisms that shouldn't be dismissed as purely being 'negative'.

We simply want more from a game that has the potential, and already has the means, to be almost the perfect Animal Crossing game.

I do love the game, but at the same time I am frustrated and annoyed.

Blocking works for toxic positivity too, if it gets too bad.

Whatever keeps the peace.


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## Mezzanine (Oct 16, 2020)

Honestly, I think the non-stop complaining about this game gets on my nerves more than the people who look at this game with rose-tinted shades. Plain old toxicity isn't any better than "toxic positivity. " Nintendo flat out doesn't listen, so mulling over this games same problems it had upon release 7 months later is just wasted energy IMO
Don't get me wrong, I have my fair share of complaints about how NH was handled. I still really like it, it's mostly smaller things that tick me off. I nitpick a lot too. But I agree about people sometimes souring the mood regarding future updates. Sometimes it feels like people are waiting with bated breath for things to complain about.


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## Dunquixote (Oct 16, 2020)

Mezzanine said:


> Honestly, I think the non-stop complaining about this game gets on my nerves more than the people who look at this game with rose-tinted shades. Plain old toxicity isn't any better than "toxic positivity. " Nintendo flat out doesn't listen, so mulling over this games same problems it had upon release 7 months later is just wasted energy IMO
> Don't get me wrong, I have my fair share of complaints about how NH was handled. I still really like it, it's mostly smaller things that tick me off. I nitpick a lot too. But I agree about people sometimes souring the mood regarding future updates. Sometimes it feels like people are waiting with bated breath for things to complain about.



I can agree to a point. I think there is nothing wrong thoughwith providing constructive criticism especially if a thread is asking for your opinion on certain aspects of the game. Constructive criticism to me is: “I enjoy the game but I think there are a lot of things lacking such as: a,b, c. This is why I feel this way.”


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## Noel_in_Sunrise (Oct 16, 2020)

Mezzanine said:


> Honestly, I think the non-stop complaining about this game gets on my nerves more than the people who look at this game with rose-tinted shades. Plain old toxicity isn't any better than "toxic positivity. " Nintendo flat out doesn't listen, so mulling over this games same problems it had upon release 7 months later is just wasted energy IMO
> Don't get me wrong, I have my fair share of complaints about how NH was handled. I still really like it, it's mostly smaller things that tick me off. I nitpick a lot too. But I agree about people sometimes souring the mood regarding future updates. Sometimes it feels like people are waiting with bated breath for things to complain about.


I don't think that it is a fair assessment to say that people look forward to complaining about something any more than it is fair to say that people look forward to being relentlessly positive regardless of the circumstances. Some people feel bolstered by positivity and some by criticism. I like some of both honestly, but since since I grew up with in a situation where toxic positivity was enforced with abuse, criticism does not make me uncomfortable in the way that people telling others not to be critical does. I imagine that a lot of other people have dealt with things that are traumatic in the opposite direction.
I feel like sometimes people take negativity as an intention to harm when it often isn't.

I do not think negativity counts as toxic unless you are telling others people that they are broken or less valuable for being more positive about the game. That is what makes toxic positivity toxic--the underlying message that the other person is broken for not being entirely positive. Positivity or negativity both have the potential for harm. 

The concept of 'souring' an atmosphere is a little frustrating to me, as different atmospheres are healthier for different people. I want both kinds of people--those who prefer positivity and those who don't to have a safe space. Is this impossible because negative comments ruin things for positive people? (I am genuinely asking. I have no idea.)

I hope this is okay. I felt a bit attacked by your post and wanted to make sure I understood you and was understood in turn.


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## John Wick (Oct 16, 2020)

Sometimes people may be overly positive because deep inside, they are reading things they themselves can't bring themselves to post.

I certainly don't wait around with baited breath to complain, and wouldn't complain if there wasn't a reason, as I don't like feeling negative myself.

I give credit where it's due, and like a lot of other older/long time AC players, we are just waiting (hoping) for some of the missing content, because it is frustrating, and makes you feel powerless because we can't force Nintendo to give us what we've enjoyed in other games.

If they do, I'll be the first to heap a crapload of praise onto them (Nintendo).
NH, as I've said many times, could be the perfect AC game.

Until then, we can always hope the next update gives more of those items.
It's just that so far, we've had virtually no real furniture injected back into NH.


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## Lanstar (Oct 16, 2020)

Noel_in_Sunrise said:


> I don't think that it is a fair assessment to say that people look forward to complaining about something any more than it is fair to say that people look forward to being relentlessly positive regardless of the circumstances. Some people feel bolstered by positivity and some by criticism. I like some of both honestly, but since since I grew up with in a situation where toxic positivity was enforced with abuse, criticism does not make me uncomfortable in the way that people telling others not to be critical does. I imagine that a lot of other people have dealt with things that are traumatic in the opposite direction.
> I feel like sometimes people take negativity as an intention to harm when it often isn't.
> 
> I do not think negativity counts as toxic unless you are telling others people that they are broken or less valuable for being more positive about the game. That is what makes toxic positivity toxic--the underlying message that the other person is broken for not being entirely positive. Positivity or negativity both have the potential for harm.
> ...



I don't mind reading people's problems about the game.

What I _do_ mind is when people constantly scream their same problems about the game in EVERY. SINGLE. THREAD. they have the opportunity to do so.

I.E. They have this sort of agenda to make to spoil the enjoyment for the people that do enjoy the game despite acknowledging its flaws. It's the classic, "I don't like it, so neither should you" mentality that pretty much ruins conversations in the forums.

People like that are those I put on my ignore list, and wish the mods would block from this forum, as that is just flat out trolling.


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## cocoacat (Oct 16, 2020)

I've voiced complaints, but I do love the game and play every day. I guess it's just about venting and hoping things change.  

There's been a big focus on terraforming, and while that's awesome and a very welcome feature, it seems other things were cut back. I feel there's been a shift to make the game more Instagram and Homes and Gardens picture worthy, and less about a living growing town with things to do and people to get to know. But even so, I like decorating and the game is fine as is.

I think I was a bit spoiled by Pocket Camp as well with the amount of outdoor decorations and the many themed items. I was expecting New Leaf on an island with the added Pocket Camp items. I really thought there'd be more interactions between you and the villagers and the villagers and placed furniture. It just seems like it could have been better.


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## Monokuma73 (Oct 16, 2020)

I was thinking for a while, if I want to reply in this tread...
I'm not really sure, why we should use words like "despise" or "hate". I understand "haters gonna hate" - and it happens everywhere, but if someone loosing interest about this or any games, should be no reason to stay any longer on forum like this and participate in discussions, unless providing help for less experienced users.

Players are customers and may have some demands, like good hardware / good software and if there is a problem it should be reported. No matter if game is considered as a best one or not, problems existing and solution has to be found.
We can not forget about sharing own opinion or just expressing "what we don't like and what could work better". For example inventory management - what in my opinion could be much better and user friendly. If I will say something like this will it be "despise"? Do I really need blindly accept every single game mechanic? No, I don't have to - but, if I don't like / not happy about some of game elements not making game as a whole bad.

I understand there are people, just hating / despising games, newer played and having absolutely "zero knowledge". I had quite funny situation, when one of my colleagues from work had PS4 and played only Fifa. This person called a **** every other single game not being Fifa. It's really sad, but this happens. If we would like to enjoy any product, if any product is suitable for us, and if we are sensitive for other opinions, we should just avoid any toxic discussions or environment.
We can't forget there's no perfect game for everyone - and doesn't matter if we approve or not, not everyone will share our opinion, not everyone will like the same what we like.


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## NatsumiSummer (Oct 16, 2020)

John Wick said:


> Yep. Exactly.
> 
> I bought the switch for NH alone, hoping it would be at least, as good as NL.
> I have no other games.
> ...


I know WAY more people that bought a Switch for other games. And besides you could have just given up NH and played NL
 Sell your Switch and NH if you are so disappointed in it. You obviously think it is garbage anyways. 

I also know a few people who got a Switch for NH, but they also ended up buying other games for it too. 

You could have easily put it down instead of playing something you hate. No one is forcing you to play JUST NH. You could go back and play a older AC game.


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## TheDuke55 (Oct 16, 2020)

I can understand where he is coming from. I bought an Xbox solely for Banjo Kazooie 3, which happened to just turn into Nuts and Bolts. And I was not happy.


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## Corrie (Oct 16, 2020)

John Wick said:


> There is also toxic positivity that is hurtful to those of us who are passionate about a game we've loved for many, many years, who do have valid criticisms that shouldn't be dismissed as purely being 'negative'.
> 
> We simply want more from a game that has the potential, and already has the means, to be almost the perfect Animal Crossing game.
> 
> ...


Spouting opinions about how things could be better is always welcome because who doesn't want the game to get better? I love the Animal Crossing series and would hate for everyone to just shout endless amounts of praise and love everything just because it's Animal Crossing. People did that with the Pokemon series and look what mess it turned out to be. I don't want the same thing for Animal Crossing. 

We bought a game with hopes it would be better than its earlier games like it always had been. Since it isn't really in a lot of ways, we're disappointed and have every right to be. To me, it's a shame it sold well. That means they know they can get away with that low standard for the next game(s).


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## wolfie1 (Oct 16, 2020)

I think it has to do with the fact that this game is lacking a lot of things and mechanics other previous iterations had from the beginning, not via monthly or seasonal updates. For example, New Leaf had only one big update and it wasn't full of game-changing stuff, if I recall correctly (only Harvey and a couple of things more). You could just play the game like you had done up until then.
However, this iteration was sort of "bare" when it was first released. I understand this is a tactic to keep people engaged by releasing periodic updates every other month, and I also think it has to do with the fact that, in general, people who time travel get bored more quickly, as they have done everything there is to do, or "cheat". Building up on this, the fact that they only include mechanics or objects that players could previously find in past games doesn't help the franchise, as there's nothing really new. I personally would love to have Nintendo add previous things as well as new ones to keep things fresh.
I still play every day and I don't plan to drop the game anytime soon, but I can't compare the time I used to spend playing this game during the first months with how long my daily playing sessions are right now.


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## Garrett (Oct 16, 2020)

Some people are just miserable and enjoy moaning. 

/shrugs

I'm delighted with New Horizons, my favourite Animal Crossing ever.


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## TheDuke55 (Oct 16, 2020)

Corrie said:


> Spouting opinions about how things could be better is always welcome because who doesn't want the game to get better? I love the Animal Crossing series and would hate for everyone to just shout endless amounts of praise and love everything just because it's Animal Crossing. People did that with the Pokemon series and look what mess it turned out to be. I don't want the same thing for Animal Crossing.
> 
> We bought a game with hopes it would be better than its earlier games like it always had been. Since it isn't really in a lot of ways, we're disappointed and have every right to be. To me, it's a shame it sold well. That means they know they can get away with that low standard for the next game(s).


I'll admit, I never played Pokemon except for the gameboy era. And I kind of got out of it, but figured what the heck, I'll try Sword/Shield. (I got Shield) and I did like it, but that's also because I didn't have a lot to compare it to. My last game I was fully invested in was Pokemon Red and Blue lol, so it's definitely better than that version.

But I've seen people show Youtube clips of comparisons of the previous versions and I can see they cut corners a lot. Most of the Pokemon do little static bunny hops when they attack, but in the previous version examples they were very animate with how they attacked.


Garrett said:


> Some people are just miserable and enjoy moaning.
> 
> /shrugs
> 
> I'm delighted with New Horizons, my favourite Animal Crossing ever.


I still like New Horizons, but I feel it could had been better. Will I still play it, yes. So far I've seen the 'positive' people being more passive aggressive/rude to the people pointing out flaws why they aren't as happy with the game as those who aren't as disappointed with the game. The topic title even is asking for their opinion on the matter ('so I can understand') and instead I find a good amount of replies attacking them.


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## KimvW (Oct 16, 2020)

KittenNoir said:


> I am really enjoying the game I joined the animal crossing community when I started playing New Leaf back in 2013 and loved it ever since.  I was so keen to get my hands on New Horizons I would watch a new video about it on YouTube everyday and keep checking online for more information about the game and had a countdown to it on all my devices.
> 
> What makes me sad is when people say that dislike the game or that they are not  looking forward to certain updates and so on  cause I get super excited about things that are coming up or happening and then I see all negative comments on something that I was looking forward to which puts me in a sad mood



I love this game as well (it has definitely helped my during the lockdowns) and get sad sometimes when people are very negative about the game. I think that is normal when people talk negatively about something you really like. What I try to remeber is that people likely complain because the love the game or the franchise. New Horizons is my first AC game, so I don't miss the old features but feel excited at the prospect of them being added via updates. However, if you are a long term player, I could fully understand why you might be dissapointed that these features are not in the game to start with and as a result might be more negative about the game.

There's no right or wrong, just different perspectives


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## Airysuit (Oct 16, 2020)

I like this game.  I like new leaf. When I feel like having NL features I play NL. When I feel like having NH features I play NH 

They both have their flaws, but more importantly they both have great strengths, within context of the period they came out. 

They both offer a different kind of home to me 

So I also dont understand the criticism beyond the constructive criticism, but than again, I am also not a game critic or expert whatsoever, nor do I now how to please such a big audience


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## Corrie (Oct 16, 2020)

TheDuke55 said:


> I'll admit, I never played Pokemon except for the gameboy era. And I kind of got out of it, but figured what the heck, I'll try Sword/Shield. (I got Shield) and I did like it, but that's also because I didn't have a lot to compare it to. My last game I was fully invested in was Pokemon Red and Blue lol, so it's definitely better than that version.
> 
> But I've seen people show Youtube clips of comparisons of the previous versions and I can see they cut corners a lot. Most of the Pokemon do little static bunny hops when they attack, but in the previous version examples they were very animate with how they attacked.
> 
> I still like New Horizons, but I feel it could had been better. Will I still play it, yes. So far I've seen the 'positive' people being more passive aggressive/rude to the people pointing out flaws why they aren't as happy with the game as those who aren't as disappointed with the game. The topic title even is asking for their opinion on the matter ('so I can understand') and instead I find a good amount of replies attacking them.


Oh wow! Yeah that would be a giant jump! I'd recommend trying out other games in the series as well if you can find them. I've played FireRed, Sapphire, Pearl, White, Alpha Sapphire, Ultra Moon and X. I didn't care for X or Ultra Moon much but I liked the other ones. I've heard HeartGold/SoulSilver are great too but I haven't played them (or any gen 2 game actually). I should try them.


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## Lanstar (Oct 16, 2020)

Corrie said:


> Spouting opinions about how things could be better is always welcome because who doesn't want the game to get better? I love the Animal Crossing series and would hate for everyone to just shout endless amounts of praise and love everything just because it's Animal Crossing. People did that with the Pokemon series and look what mess it turned out to be. I don't want the same thing for Animal Crossing.
> 
> We bought a game with hopes it would be better than its earlier games like it always had been. Since it isn't really in a lot of ways, we're disappointed and have every right to be. To me, it's a shame it sold well. That means they know they can get away with that low standard for the next game(s).



But constantly spouting the same problems about the game again and again and again and again again and again and again and again again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again again and again and again and again again and again and again and again again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and *again *on every thread available to do so really gets tiring and old.

I've seen forums regulate constant nagging spam like this: Months ago, the primary Animal Crossing subreddit has banned the use of what are called "Lisa Simpson Suggestion" memes. Why? It was turning into low-effort spam in the sub, due to easy karma - and many people got tired of the macros screening out actual in-game posts. In Bulbagarden, they have a section limiting heavy discussion about the character Goh, even though there's a huge amount of justified hate against him. Why? Because the constant nagging and flamewars was taking over the rest of the anime discussion, and because it was exhausting to read in every discussion thread.

I wish this forum had a stopblock of some kind on "I don't like x" posts and "Why do you hate x" threads like this - limit them to the rant thread, please! It's annoying to see devvy-downers and complainers pop up in EVERY. SINGLE. CONVERSATION, spamming complaints and criticism all the time.


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## TheDuke55 (Oct 16, 2020)

Than don't make threads asking why people aren't as happy with that game as you are.


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## 6iixx (Oct 16, 2020)

TheDuke55 said:


> Than don't make threads asking why people aren't as happy with that game as you are.



i think what lanstar was trying to say, is that they'd rather just have one specific thread for that kind of a discussion, instead of seeing people complain about the lack of furniture in NH compared to NL in every single post they make - whether it's an appropriate thread to be saying that or not.  because i've noticed it as well.  people are just trying to get constructive criticism, ideas, help, etc., and there always has to be one post that doesn't fit into the original topic, and it's just a debby-downing post that honestly had no business really being there in the first place.

for example, when someone's asking for more information on golden flowers because it's their first time playing an AC game, no one needs to post on it going, 'yeah but they're ugly anyways.'  there's a time and place for everything.  and in my opinion, 'toxic positivity' is still toxic.

as someone who hasn't played any of the AC games prior, i've only seen them played periodically, i can't compare NH to past games.  i can see what i have in front of me and agree with some points; bulk crafting, purchasing, etc., but honestly.. they're not game breaking mechanics that are going to ruin the game for me.

i have as many hours in NH as i do because i enjoy playing the game, and for someone who doesn't TT, i still have a _lot_ to experience.  and i'm looking forward to every darn second of it.

personally, i think people just need to remember that not every installment of a game is going to be the same as the last.  and other people are going to enjoy those different aspects more, or not enjoy those different aspects more.  everyone has an entitled opinion, but at the end of the day, that's all it is: *your* opinion.


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## charmingpeach (Oct 16, 2020)

I feel like many messages here have been very insightful and they have explained quite accurately why this game receives negative feedback, which is what OP asked for. But I feel like OP is disregarding and attacking them instead. I don't mean this in a bad way whatsoever, but why ask for an opinion if you are not going to respect it whatsoever? It's fair that people feel this way about the game, and they are on their right to feel so given they are a consumer just like you are. If anything, it's blind positivity I don't like... we don't grow from that, one does need to learn from their mistakes to get better right?

I myself want to stay positive with the game, I know it has its lows, but I want to hope the future is bright with it. They have the base game already, they only need to add up onto that now. I suspect the first year would be dedicated to finishing making the events and then, they are free to actually go ham on the game. The biggest reason why I believe they might go with this is because the game is still in version 1.5, and with Splatoon, the big releases have been released as 2.0 or 3.0. Now, I'm aware this might just be me daydreaming, but I agree there's simply a lot of things I want in the game still that many others must want too.


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## Corrie (Oct 16, 2020)

Lanstar said:


> But constantly spouting the same problems about the game again and again and again and again again and again and again and again again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again again and again and again and again again and again and again and again again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and *again *on every thread available to do so really gets tiring and old.
> 
> I've seen forums regulate constant nagging spam like this: Months ago, the primary Animal Crossing subreddit has banned the use of what are called "Lisa Simpson Suggestion" memes. Why? It was turning into low-effort spam in the sub, due to easy karma - and many people got tired of the macros screening out actual in-game posts. In Bulbagarden, they have a section limiting heavy discussion about the character Goh, even though there's a huge amount of justified hate against him. Why? Because the constant nagging and flamewars was taking over the rest of the anime discussion, and because it was exhausting to read in every discussion thread.
> 
> I wish this forum had a stopblock of some kind on "I don't like x" posts and "Why do you hate x" threads like this - limit them to the rant thread, please! It's annoying to see devvy-downers and complainers pop up in EVERY. SINGLE. CONVERSATION, spamming complaints and criticism all the time.



Random negative comments that have nothing to do with the thread they're posted in definitely are a problem but I think constructive threads are valid. Having a thread talking about which music you like and then another with the music you don't is fine. (Technically it could be blended into one thread but you know).


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## Lanstar (Oct 16, 2020)

Corrie said:


> Random negative comments that have nothing to do with the thread they're posted in definitely are a problem but I think constructive threads are valid. Having a thread talking about which music you like and then another with the music you don't is fine. (Technically it could be blended into one thread but you know).



Those threads are fine with me, as long as the talk about the threads really is about music.

The problem is I'm seeing people using those music criticism threads as a justification for criticizing TV as well. After all, TV has music in it, so I get to spam what I hate in TV as well, right?

In this thread, it asked why certain people *despise *New Horizons. What happened is became a wishlisting and complaining thread from people who _*don't despise*_ the game,  but rather just have other issues with it. After all, 'Disappointed/Annoyed' is similar to "Despise", right?

Similar disconnects happen when when people spam "MOARZ furniture" and "Bunny Day Disaster" in thread after thread as well, and I'm getting tired of it.


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## TheKryptoKnight (Oct 16, 2020)

Lanstar said:


> Those threads are fine with me, as long as the talk about the threads really is about music.
> 
> The problem is I'm seeing people using those music criticism threads as a justification for criticizing TV as well. After all, TV has music in it, so I get to spam what I hate in TV as well, right?
> 
> ...



This is extremely well said! Thank you for posting this, even if it gets lost in the din.


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## meggiewes (Oct 16, 2020)

Lanstar said:


> In this thread, it asked why certain people *despise *New Horizons. What happened is became a wishlisting and complaining thread from people who _*don't despise*_ the game,  but rather just have other issues with it. After all, 'Disappointed/Annoyed' is similar to "Despise", right?



Well, that might be the problem with asking that question here instead of on a place like Reddit or Twitter. At least on Bell Tree, even those who complain about New Horizons still really, really like playing it. I can only think of a couple of posters who might claim to hate the very essence of the game, but they still play it a lot so they must love Animal Crossing as a series. It is the reason why I still visit the Sims forums even though I really dislike Sims 4. It is my favorite game franchise and I love it even though I think EA is ruining it.

Personally, if I really despised and truly didn't like a game, I wouldn't be on a fan forum to complain about it. You won't find me hanging around a Call of Duty or Fortnight forum to just complain about how I dislike shooters.


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## kayleee (Oct 16, 2020)

I love this game but it definitely lacks something that both WW and NL had. I played those games a LOT and I can't distinctly remember feeling bored/burnt out by them. The thing is, I can't figure out what exactly NH is lacking especially since it seems to add a lot more game-play wise (terraforming, decorating outside, crafting, etc). I think the villager dialogue may be part of it; I barely ever talk to my villagers in this game because the dialogue just isn't very interesting. And I definitely miss rude villagers

I have to say, I think the amount of freedom given for terraforming/decorating can feel overwhelming and chore-like. Don't get me wrong, I love being able to customize my island, but sometimes it feels overwhelming to the point that I don't even want to play and I already went through a burn-out period last month. The new update did bring me back though and I've been playing fairly regularly so I suppose the fact the game gets routine updates is a good thing


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## Jacob4 (Oct 16, 2020)

Lanstar said:


> Those threads are fine with me, as long as the talk about the threads really is about music.
> 
> The problem is I'm seeing people using those music criticism threads as a justification for criticizing TV as well. After all, TV has music in it, so I get to spam what I hate in TV as well, right?
> 
> ...


i agree with you that people complaining & wishlisting in threads where it obviously isn't relevant should be discouraged, but someone attempting to give insight on why some people might despise the game despite not despising it themselves is still very much a relevant topic of the thread imo, and pointing out the issues with the game and what is left to be desired is doing exactly that

surely we can't expect only people who absolutely despise the game to make a comment in this thread? this is a forum where the majority of the people in it are going to like the game to an extent after all


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## niko@kamogawa (Oct 16, 2020)

Lanstar said:


> But constantly spouting the same problems about the game again and again and again and again again and again and again and again again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again again and again and again and again again and again and again and again again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and *again *on every thread available to do so really gets tiring and old.
> 
> I've seen forums regulate constant nagging spam like this: Months ago, the primary Animal Crossing subreddit has banned the use of what are called "Lisa Simpson Suggestion" memes. Why? It was turning into low-effort spam in the sub, due to easy karma - and many people got tired of the macros screening out actual in-game posts. In Bulbagarden, they have a section limiting heavy discussion about the character Goh, even though there's a huge amount of justified hate against him. Why? Because the constant nagging and flamewars was taking over the rest of the anime discussion, and because it was exhausting to read in every discussion thread.
> 
> I wish this forum had a stopblock of some kind on "I don't like x" posts and "Why do you hate x" threads like this - limit them to the rant thread, please! It's annoying to see devvy-downers and complainers pop up in EVERY. SINGLE. CONVERSATION, spamming complaints and criticism all the time.



You're not wrong. I seen a lot of threads that people kept posting over and over such as "unhappiness" with their islands. (I am sure the people here are trying their best to give a *good* advice. It's not as bad as you think as compared to other communities.) Although, I have to agree that we need to have a place for all of these. In fact, we do have a dedicated rant thread here that people should use.

Sadly, this thread is inevitably going to lure those posters you mentioned. (They are still within topic though albeit more into complaining.)

We can't also deny the fact that we are getting new members here every now and then. Obviously, that will generate the same amount of discussion that we had before.

Personally, I am a firm believer that the community here really loves the game despite all of these repeated exchanges.  It's all about managing them ensuring that it won't spew toxic discussions.

By the way, I am still on topic. We are still trying to understand why we are getting these responses in this thread.


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## Neprezi (Oct 16, 2020)

niko@kamogawa said:


> You're not wrong. I seen a lot of threads that people kept posting over and over such as "unhappiness" with their islands. (I am sure the people here are trying their best to give a *good* advice. It's not as bad as you think as compared to other communities.) Although, I have to agree that we need to have a place for all of these. In fact, we do have a dedicated rant thread here that people should use.
> 
> Sadly, this thread is inevitably going to lure those posters you mentioned. (They are still within topic though albeit more into complaining.)
> 
> ...


Sorry if I'm misunderstanding here, but what exactly is wrong with people talking about their criticisms of the game in a thread where that's specifically what the OP asked for? Granted this thread may be a little redundant considering there's already a rant megathread, but coming into a complaint thread just to complain that people are complaining seems... very weird to me.

It's one thing if people were coming into random unrelated threads just to say "OMG THIS GAME SUX!1!", but OP asked why some people "despise" (using despise very loosely, as someone already pointed out I doubt that many people on an AC fan forum flat out hate NH) the game and it seems like generally people have remained on topic and were fair in explaining their reasons for disliking certain aspects of the game.

If seeing people criticizing the game bothers you so much, maybe don't click on a thread titled "I want to understand why some people despise NH"?

Also, this is more in response to what Lanstar said than you, but lumping in everyone who has valid criticisms as just being "debbie downers" is unbelivably reductive and doesn't do anything to make the discussion less toxic.


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## niko@kamogawa (Oct 16, 2020)

Neprezi said:


> Sorry if I'm misunderstanding here, but what exactly is wrong with people talking about their criticisms of the game in a thread where that's specifically what the OP asked for? Granted this thread may be a little redundant considering there's already a rant megathread, but coming into a complaint thread just to complain that people are complaining seems... very weird to me.
> 
> It's one thing if people were coming into random unrelated threads just to say "OMG THIS GAME SUX!1!", but OP asked why some people "despise" (using despise very loosely, as someone already pointed out I doubt that many people on an AC fan forum flat out hate NH) the game and it seems like generally people have remained on topic and were fair in explaining their reasons for disliking certain aspects of the game.
> 
> ...



There's nothing wrong really. In fact, I am perfectly fine with criticisms. After all, it can still drive a good discussion to talk things about how Nintendo can improve them. It's a form of feedback in a sense.

I am just reiterating to @Lanstar's post of why are we still getting these redundant responses. I believe he or she wants a way to control them because it can potentially lure unnecessary flaming.


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## TheKryptoKnight (Oct 16, 2020)

Neprezi said:


> Sorry if I'm misunderstanding here, but what exactly is wrong with people talking about their criticisms of the game in a thread where that's specifically what the OP asked for? Granted this thread may be a little redundant considering there's already a rant megathread, but coming into a complaint thread just to complain that people are complaining seems... very weird to me.
> 
> It's one thing if people were coming into random unrelated threads just to say "OMG THIS GAME SUX!1!", but OP asked why some people "despise" (using despise very loosely, as someone already pointed out I doubt that many people on an AC fan forum flat out hate NH) the game and it seems like generally people have remained on topic and were fair in explaining their reasons for disliking certain aspects of the game.
> 
> ...



Everything you said here is on point, but I think what's happening in this thread is a little more meta for the forum. There are users who make negative comments in nearly every thread on the forum, and I think frustration with that is just coming to a head here because this topic explicitly is about negativity. The comments you're seeing complaining about negativity aren't so much about this specific thread, but more the negative comments that bleed into every single other thread on the forum. There are users who would go into a thread titled "I love how green the grass is in NH!" And reply "It sucks that it was greener in NL". I think that is what is inspiring the frustration here. I can't speak for anyone but me of course. Just my thoughts anyway.


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## 6iixx (Oct 16, 2020)

TheKryptoKnight said:


> Everything you said here is on point, but I think what's happening in this thread is a little more meta for the forum. There are users who make negative comments in nearly every thread on the forum, and I think frustration with that is just coming to a head here because this topic explicitly is about negativity. The comments you're seeing complaining about negativity aren't so much about this specific thread, but more the negative comments that bleed into every single other thread on the forum. There are users who would go into a thread titled "I love how green the grass is in NH!" And reply "It sucks that it was greener in NL". I think that is what is inspiring the frustration here. Just my thoughts anyway.


^ exactly what i was trying to point out, and i think that was lanstar's initial point as well.


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## Lanstar (Oct 16, 2020)

Neprezi said:


> Sorry if I'm misunderstanding here, but what exactly is wrong with people talking about their criticisms of the game in a thread where that's specifically what the OP asked for? Granted this thread may be a little redundant considering there's already a rant megathread, but coming into a complaint thread just to complain that people are complaining seems... very weird to me.
> 
> It's one thing if people were coming into random unrelated threads just to say "OMG THIS GAME SUX!1!", but OP asked why some people "despise" (using despise very loosely, as someone already pointed out I doubt that many people on an AC fan forum flat out hate NH) the game and it seems like generally people have remained on topic and were fair in explaining their reasons for disliking certain aspects of the game.
> 
> ...



If we were asking about why some people 'despise' the game, we'd first need first hand the info about people online who actually 'despise' the game, and see what they actually have to say. The fact that no one, not even the OP, actually gave info about such people, it feels like the whole premise of this thread fell into a disaster in the first place.

Thus, we end up with people reasoning, "No info? Let's just theorize by say what we, who still play the game, dislike about it!"

I.e.: We never quite get why specific people despise the game because we have hardly have references of it mentioned in the first place - just our own theories.

And yes: My issue about the 'debbydowners' I explained goes more towards other threads forumwide than this one: Certain people constantly complaining the same issues they have about the game on every thread they have the chance, however irrelevent it is about the actual topic. It's getting very tedious and tiresome, and is ruining the enjoyment of reading the new threads in general.


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## Jacob4 (Oct 16, 2020)

TheKryptoKnight said:


> Everything you said here is on point, but I think what's happening in this thread is a little more meta for the forum. There are users who make negative comments in nearly every thread on the forum, and I think frustration with that is just coming to a head here because this topic explicitly is about negativity. The comments you're seeing complaining about negativity aren't so much about this specific thread, but more the negative comments that bleed into every single other thread on the forum. There are users who would go into a thread titled "I love how green the grass is in NH!" And reply "It sucks that it was greener in NL". I think that is what is inspiring the frustration here. I can't speak for anyone but me of course. Just my thoughts anyway.


if that is the case that's understandable, i don't really go around too many threads on here so i'm not really sure to what extent that happens

it sounds like it would be best to keep complaining & wishlisting from users in a single thread (the main one is ACNH Rant thread i believe, so probably that one) by moderating complaining/wishlisting outside of that thread, along with moderating the creation of threads that will lead to the same responses as the ACNH Rant thread (complaining/wishlisting)


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## Zane (Oct 16, 2020)

NatsumiSummer said:


> I know WAY more people that bought a Switch for other games. And besides you could have just given up NH and played NL
> Sell your Switch and NH if you are so disappointed in it. You obviously think it is garbage anyways.



I have to say this doesn’t read as a constructive reply, especially coming from the person who made the thread apparently wanting to understand other people’s unhappiness with the game


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## Eureka (Oct 16, 2020)

Lanstar said:


> In this thread, it asked why certain people *despise *New Horizons. What happened is became a wishlisting and complaining thread from people who _*don't despise*_ the game,  but rather just have other issues with it. After all, 'Disappointed/Annoyed' is similar to "Despise", right?



Thank you for bringing this up! I was starting to feel like I was reading the rant thread when this is supposed to be for people to explain why they despise the game, not just reasons why they think it could be better.


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## daringred_ (Oct 16, 2020)

i think it speaks volumes that the people with valid criticisms on a thread essentially directed_* at them*_ got driven away by people claiming to be all about positivity and saying that negative opinions are inherently more toxic (not even remotely true), ironically proving that it's in fact the positive people behaving more toxic. amazing.


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## John Wick (Oct 16, 2020)

NatsumiSummer said:


> I know WAY more people that bought a Switch for other games. And besides you could have just given up NH and played NL
> Sell your Switch and NH if you are so disappointed in it. You obviously think it is garbage anyways.
> 
> I also know a few people who got a Switch for NH, but they also ended up buying other games for it too.
> ...


You obviously haven't read my posts.

If you had bothered to read them, you would have seen where I've stated how much I love the game and think it could be perfect.

I've also been playing AC since 2005.

I came to share opinions with other adults who may be feeling the way I do.
I don't need to be attacked for that. 

Over & out.


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## TheKryptoKnight (Oct 16, 2020)

daringred_ said:


> i think it speaks volumes that the people with valid criticisms on a thread essentially directed_* at them*_ got driven away by people claiming to be all about positivity and saying that negative opinions are inherently more toxic (not even remotely true), ironically proving that it's in fact the positive people behaving more toxic. amazing.



This is really aggressive for no reason. 
The "positive people are the real problem all along" narrative is completely missing the point. Anyone who's unwilling to admit anything positive OR negative about the game is not being constructive.


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## daringred_ (Oct 16, 2020)

TheKryptoKnight said:


> This is really aggressive for no reason.
> The "positive people are the real problem all along" narrative is completely missing the point. Anyone who's unwilling to admit anything positive OR negative about the game is not being constructive.



if you think this is aggressive, i've got news for you and a recommendation of reading back through this dumpster fire of a thread. nobody said positive people are the problem all along either, that's just you putting words in my mouth because it makes you feel better and if you bothered to actually read the responses from the ""debbie downers"" plenty of them expressed both a like and criticism for the game. jesus christ.


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## Lanstar (Oct 16, 2020)

daringred_ said:


> i think it speaks volumes that the people with valid criticisms on a thread essentially directed_* at them*_ got driven away by people claiming to be all about positivity and saying that negative opinions are inherently more toxic (not even remotely true), ironically proving that it's in fact the positive people behaving more toxic. amazing.



That is not what I'm talking about. Please read what I said: It's a forumwide problem - not this thread alone - of people posting negativity in threads that is totally off topic in the first place.


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## daringred_ (Oct 16, 2020)

Lanstar said:


> That is not what I'm talking about. Please read what I said: It's a forumwide problem - not this thread alone - of people posting negativity in threads that are off topic.



last i checked, i didn't mention names, it was a general observation, but it says something that you assume it's targeted at you specifically.

regardless, it's textbook hypocrisy. everyone's allowed to be positive in every thread and say what they love about the game everywhere, whether it's topically relevant or not, but ""negative"" people aren't allowed the same freedom? a'ight.


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## Mezzanine (Oct 16, 2020)

daringred_ said:


> last i checked, i didn't mention names, it was a general observation, but it says something that you assume it's targeted at you specifically.
> 
> regardless, it's textbook hypocrisy. everyone's allowed to be positive in every thread and say what they love about the game everywhere, whether it's topically relevant or not, but ""negative"" people aren't allowed the same freedom? a'ight.


Yeah, it's almost like you're on a fan forum for an extremely well-liked series or something.


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## Lanstar (Oct 16, 2020)

daringred_ said:


> last i checked, i didn't mention names, it was a general observation, but it says something that you assume it's targeted at you specifically.
> 
> regardless, it's textbook hypocrisy. everyone's allowed to be positive in every thread and say what they love about the game everywhere, whether it's topically relevant or not, but ""negative"" people aren't allowed the same freedom? a'ight.



No.

It's a little thing called """""context"""" of when and what to post in specific threads, whether or not it's positive or negative. And people are spamming the exact same complaints about the game in too many threads - even if it's not the topic of those threads.

Would you like it if I brought up something you liked, but I disliked in EVERY thread you read?


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## Mezzanine (Oct 16, 2020)

daringred_ said:


> wow it's almost like nothing is perfect or flawless and people are going to have valid criticisms about things they otherwise enjoy or something.


There's a pretty major difference between acknowledging a game you like has problems, and constantly whining about it's same issues every chance you get regardless if it's relevant or constructive.


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## daringred_ (Oct 16, 2020)

Mezzanine said:


> There's a pretty major difference between acknowledging a game you like has problems, and constantly whining about it's same issues every chance you get regardless if it's relevant or constructive.



the main difference being that it's rarely the latter, it's just y'all using hyperbole because you're more personally impacted due to disagreeing with them lmao. and like i said to the last person: double standards. if they're not allowed to "whine", why should y'all be allowed to gush incessantly.


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## TheKryptoKnight (Oct 16, 2020)

daringred_ said:


> this isn't even worth dignifying with a response jesus christ-
> 
> Post automatically merged: Oct 16, 2020
> 
> ...



I really want to cite specific posts in other threads, but I don't want to call anybody out. This would be a lot easier with examples.

No one is saying that the game is perfect or all criticism is invalid. No one is saying it's always wrong to criticize. Characterizing the argument like that is disingenuous.

What is being said is that the negativity doesn't need to seep into every single thread. If someone is excited about crafting halloween DIYs, but someone else hates the crafting system, the second person doesn't need to come in and make a comment about how crafting should be removed in a thread about loving halloween DIYs. Time and a place. Go to the rant thread.


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## daringred_ (Oct 16, 2020)

TheKryptoKnight said:


> I really want to cite specific posts in other threads, but I don't want to call anybody out. This would be a lot easier with examples.
> 
> No one is saying that the game is perfect or all criticism is invalid. No one is saying it's always wrong to criticize. Characterizing the argument like that is disingenuous.
> 
> What is being said is that the negativity doesn't need to seep into every single thread. If someone is excited about crafting halloween DIYs, but someone else hates the crafting system, the second person doesn't need to come in and make a comment about how crafting should be removed in a thread about loving halloween DIYs. Time and a place. Go to the rant thread.



i'm convinced at this point we didn't read the same thread and i literally just read the whole thing in one sitting.

if negativity doesn't need to seep into every thread, neither does positivity. it works both ways, simple as. people are allowed to have opinions. this thread asked for ""negative opinions"" and then got railroaded by the positivity people *seemingly* deciding that wasn't allowed but somehow that, being the reverse, is fine? okay.


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## TheDuke55 (Oct 16, 2020)

This is a thread asking why others hate the game. The author said hate, but I know they mean the criticism more than someone having boiling hatred for the game.

I just had my birthday and so I experienced the b-day skit. New Horizon's b-day script is leagues better than NL's. The pinata strike, blowing out the candles, and the gift exchange. It's a really nice set up compared to just 'happy birthday, make a wish!' So there are definitely things this game has done way better than previous installments and that makes me happy. At the same time, the other things I mentioned in like my first or second post are things I am not so happy with. I still play the game and will do so for some time.


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## Mezzanine (Oct 16, 2020)

daringred_ said:


> and like i said to the last person: double standards. if they're not allowed to "whine", why should y'all be allowed to gush incessantly.


Because constant unhelpful complaining is annoying, and people enjoying a game and having fun isn't.


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## daringred_ (Oct 16, 2020)

Mezzanine said:


> Because constant unhelpful complaining is annoying, and people enjoying a game and having fun isn't.



criticism isn't unhelpful and harmless opinions are just that as well as, shock horror, equally as *allowed*. if you don't like that there is literally an ignore feature on this site that takes five seconds to use if that. i find people's incessant positivity annoying sometimes but you don't see me being a donkey about it/them because it's harmless, has nothing to do with me, and they have a right to their opinion(s). it's not a hard concept to grasp.


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## Mezzanine (Oct 16, 2020)

daringred_ said:


> criticism isn't unhelpful and harmless opinions are just that as well as, shock horror, equally as *allowed*. if you don't like that there is literally an ignore feature on this site that takes five seconds to use if that. i find people's incessant positivity annoying sometimes but you don't see me being a donkey about it/them because it's harmless, has nothing to do with me, and they have a right to their opinion(s). it's not a hard concept to grasp.


Sure, the complaining would be helpful and warranted if Nintendo actually listened. They don't. So I fail to see how complaining about things nobody on this forum has control over again and again and again is constructive in any way. Nobody likes a debbie downer- that's pretty elementary, common knowledge. It's not that criticism or complaining in general over this game bothers me, it's the neverending mulling over the same problems over and over in threads where it's not even relevant. There's a rant thread, not sure why it's not contained there.


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## McRibbie (Oct 16, 2020)

I honestly think a lot of criticism about the game stems from the fact that it's ultimately trying a new thing and revolves around a completely different concept than even New Leaf, which while departing from a lot of (by that point) overdone AC things in favour of doing things differently, is still a fairly standard AC game at heart (even bringing back a load of GC-era stuff as a way of showing that).

There's a video from Tama Hero I watched recently where she was reviewing Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire and she talks about the plot of the game (two evil teams, one of who wants to expand the land and one of who wants to expand the sea) which to an outsider doesn't make sense at all, but if you're aware of the issue of land reclamation that was a thing in the late 1990s (which is basically a real version of what the two evil teams were doing) and the fact that either way, some damage was being done, makes perfect sense. She also mentions that ultimately, everything in the game fits into this idea of a conflict between humans and nature, and the ways we as humans try to work with nature itself. She also covers a comment she received on her review of Pokémon Gold, Silver and Crystal about the fact that the postgame where you go to another region entirely fits with the thematics of that game's idea of progression in time and tradition versus technology.

The themes of ACNH are a lot more obvious in comparison, but like the Pokémon games, a lot of the mechanics service the idea that you've moved away from somewhere else to a deserted island somewhere and are now able to help build a new life there: the crafting, the trying to get villagers to come to your island and the remodelling and decorating your island being the most obvious. Even the update system works within the idea that you're building a civilisation on a deserted island because the updates happen overnight for me, so in the morning new features get announced through Isabelle's announcements, like swimming being unlocked because of how they've completed a marine survey. This is ultimately in many ways a good thing: for the first time since Wild World, the world of Animal Crossing is apart from the rest of the world Animal Crossing exists in and therefore feels alien, unpredictable and more organic than LGTTC and NL, in part due to the new update system being implemented. Characters who had shops in older games either are implied to have shops elsewhere (like Reece and Cyrus, or the Able Sisters initially) or are travelling around the islands (like the visiting characters in the roster at the moment), and the fact we _genuinely don't know what's going to happen in the future_ is ultimately interesting!

However, I also feel most of the bad things people point out are also inherently part of the game's theme too (either that or they're there for very specific reasons, like the bulletin board whenever you have someone fly to an island, which is basically a very elaborate loading screen where the game has to stop for a while): the tools breaking, the lack of NPCs, Isabelle's messages, being unable to craft using stuff from storage or bulk craft... all of these things are designed for _engagement_ _with the world you live in_... as much as having a QOL update would rock in a few ways, it's also missing the point of Animal Crossing entirely by getting rid of a lot of the grind and life simulation that AC is designed around, and most of my actual criticism of the game is actually based around the fact that some of the QOL changes actually kinda suck? (like how I think flowers and trees not dying makes the game seem ironically more dead, moving all the smaller events to the Nook Stop is both incredibly handy and basically making these events suck more (given they were always lesser events than Toy Day or Halloween), or how TAHK0 on Twitter pointed out how giving the Able Sisters a changing room removes most of your interaction with the shop itself)

Personally, I'm going to criticise the game for having villager dialogue that cuts off too quickly (although I'm not gonna go "WUHH MEAN VILLAGERS bc that's overused and at its very worst descends into "couldn't do that nowadays" and then into general reaction, although they could stand to be mean at you whenever you don't do something for them), the fact that there's seasonal crafting stuff that could be events but isn't, the fact that villagers don't ask you to do stuff for them often enough (although they always wanna buy my fish and bugs?), the fact that they STILL haven't brought back the competitions from Wild World despite the fact that they were the best way of doing fish and bug stuff, ditto the weird atmospheric stuff from Wild World like the bulletin board messages of the week, and the fact that accessing your storage can't be done outside your house... but I could honestly do that with EVERY Animal Crossing game at this point, because I still feel as if it hasn't found the perfect version of Animal Crossing yet, and as much as people hold up GC or NL as perfect entries, I'm personally unconvinced.

But at the same time, New Horizons is still pretty *new*. It's got plenty of room to grow, and maybe it'll become Animal Crossing: Ultimate at some point? We'll never know. But you've ultimately got to look for the good in it. It's there, from the fact YOU CAN PUT VILLAGER PICTURES ON WALLS NOW, from the fact YOU CAN MAKE THE JAPANESE RURAL ISLAND VILLAGE ANIMAL CROSSING ALWAYS WAS BUT BETTER, from the fact THE GAME IS DAMN HILARIOUS... it's not a perfect game, and honestly it's a damn frustrating game sometimes. But you've gotta think about it as that. Not the BEST GAME EVER or WORST GAME EVER (because Amiibo Festival's just sitting there) but as a thing with good and bad parts, as well as annoying stuff that's intentionally annoying.

Sorry for text dumping, but that's basically my take. Bye!


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## daringred_ (Oct 16, 2020)

Mezzanine said:


> Sure, the complaining would be helpful and warranted if Nintendo actually listened. They don't. So I fail to see how complaining about things nobody on this forum has control over again and again and again is constructive in any way. Nobody likes a debbie downer- that's pretty elementary, common knowledge. It's not that criticism or complaining in general over this game bothers me, it's the neverending mulling over the same problems over and over in threads where it's not even relevant. There's a rant thread, not sure why it's not contained there.



then make a positivity thread. balance it out. problem solved since you seem to think it's all so black and white. 

you can't prove nintendo doesn't listen. and even if they didn't, it still doesn't a) give you the right to essentially bash people for not agreeing with you or b) discredit their right and ability to say any _harmless_ opinion they want. personally i don't see the constant whining you seem to insist exists. maybe one person, granted, but that's hardly cause to paint everyone unfairly with the same brush. also different threads tend to equal different people and even if that wasn't true, it's far from a stretch to understand why people would assume it is.


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## TheDuke55 (Oct 16, 2020)

If I was to say what bothers me the most about this game, it's that they took out the island mini-games. Most of the time when I joined my friends, we always found ourselves back at CT messing around with one of the games. It was always the go-to whenever we visited. Now my friends never want to visit or host. I've visited their island once or twice when they wanted to tour what they did, but after that it kind of stopped.

That's what bothers me the most about the online aspect of it. For offline mode and just doing my own thing on the island, it's the villagers. It's a combination of things and they just aren't doing it for me like the other games. I feel like I even enjoyed New Leaf's villagers more and I remember complaining how they were too friendly and your friends right away. I feel like there's a medium they haven't quite reached, except for WW. Some want mean villagers, but AC-GC was just too rude. But NL and NH took it too far on the other spectrum.

But I do remember liking the villagers in the other installments more. Yes, I could add this to the rant thread. But you know the author wanted to know why we felt a certain way.

If updates come and bring back certain things like Tortimer/mini-games, Brewster/Roost, villager's visting your home/vice-versa, than it'd be one less thing that I was not so happy with, at first. And someone mentioned they had found the villager thing when data-mining. So that'd be cool if that turned out to be true.


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## Chris (Oct 16, 2020)

Closed for review.


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## Chris (Oct 17, 2020)

After review it has been decided that this thread will remain closed. 





Lanstar said:


> I wish this forum had a stopblock of some kind on "I don't like x" posts and "Why do you hate x" threads like this - limit them to the rant thread, please!





niko@kamogawa said:


> Although, I have to agree that we need to have a place for all of these. In fact, we do have a dedicated rant thread here that people should use.




As a note, please do remember that the use of the user-created rant thread is _*not*_ enforced by the TBT staff team. It is not an official thread for content of this nature, therefore people are absolutely welcome to make threads to discuss aspects of the game they dislike and should not feel as if they are limited to posting in that thread only. If you dislike threads of this nature then please don't click on them, thank you.


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