It got boring to me fairly fast, but so did New Leaf. Video games can't hold my attention for too long anymore. Nevertheless, I thought Happy Home Designer was a great spin-off for the Animal Crossing series. I was hesitant to buy it, but I was glad I did.
I don't know why people were expecting a new full-blown Animal Crossing. I'll tell you what kind of Animal Crossing game you'd get made in the time between Animal Crossing New Leaf and Happy Home Designer and that's... City Folk. A poorly-thrown together mess. It'd be an even bigger disaster following up New Leaf. I want to see Nintendo aspire to make the next Animal Crossing as good of a sequel as New Leaf. However long it takes them, I'll give it to them. I don't want another City Folk. Ever.