Am I playing this game the right way?!!!!?

[thelonewanderer]

Nintendo create Animal Crossing to be a relaxing game. A game meant to be play slowly and over time. Yet having online play speak otherwise. Nintendo said one thing and then does something else entirely.

Online play encourage trading with others, buying items you can't get on your island and of course the all famous online turnip market. But online is the opposite of what Animal Crossing is suppose to be, a slow and relaxing game?

The online turnip market feel like an unfair advantage because its not a gamble anymore if you can't lose. You will always make bank because there always multiple people every week having high spike. How is this game suppose to be taken "slowly" when you can make money off the wahoo?

Coming to other people island and buying stuffs seem like the opposite of "slow pace". If you can make so much money and get so many items so quickly, there is no way this game is remotely slow. You are going to make more money and get more items than someone who want to take this game "slowly".

So it beg this question, am I playing this game wrong? A person who doesn't rely on other, understand the concept of failure and success (stalk market), will not buy new items from other island, will not sell villagers, and have a very strong delay gratification.

What I will do is trade to get stuff I get can't on my island like non-native fruits and flowers and Nook Miles items of various coloration. Visit other people island and interact with their villagers, and check out how they design their island and if there are mini-game down the line to do that.

Does anyone here play like me? Am I playing this game wrongly? Does Nintendo online policy contradict what their purpose for Animal Crossing is? How can a game be slow burn and fast pace at the same time?

Lastly am I part of a dying breed of ultimate DIYers who want to work for everything they earn? To wake up and knowing that every last bells was due to their hard work aka the fruit of their own labors? All I see on this board and other board is people selling turnips for high profit in other people island and I just think to myself..."doesn't this defeat the entire purpose of the game"? Aren't you suppose to increase your average income little each week like a progress bar in an MMORPG? The sense of progress is what makes Animal Crossing so addicting. Everyday is something new because of the effort you put into it.

I hope there are other like me out there because it pretty lonely to be so different from everyone else. Perhaps it has to do with being a 80's kid where instant gratification didn't exist. If you miss a cartoon, there was no way to catch it (internet didn't exist back then) so delay gratification was something a lot of us had to deal with.

I don't know if I'm playing this game wrong or right as Nintendo doesn't have a clear policy.

 

[Boo.]

I dont think there is a "wrong" way to play this game. Some people TT like crazy and blitz through the content in a week. Others spend an entire year building up their town. It's all down to personal taste.

 

[usa-chan]

ummm, i don't really think there is a "right or wrong" way of playing the game besides cheating with duping. nintendo wouldn't encourage online playing if they believed that trading would defeat the purpose of the game. i guess it does deal with perspective since your idea of "progress" may be different than someone else's idea of "progress".

 

[Rosewater]

People play how they want to play and everyone's different. There's no doubt the direction of the AC series has changed within 20 years, obviously, but that's just the way it is. The gaming industry need to appeal to today's market to sell and earn money. You don't have to play online just because everyone else is. I personally don't because I can't afford to spend 5 dollars for internet on top of already paying for internet lol.

 

[Chris]

There isn't a right or wrong way to play the game.

I'm playing with a group of people who are all playing the game in a like-minded way. We trade amongst ourselves. Some weeks we do great via the stalk market, others not so much. When we have good DIYs, cool items in stores, or high turnip prices we share it with the group. Some days things aren't so great, but that's okay too. It's a fun shared experience regardless of what happens each day.

 

[Nefarious]

There's no right way to play. Everyone plays the game differently. For me, I'm playing the way you describe. I take it day by day and worry about my own island. The only time I'm interacting with the online community is when I want to sell a couple hundred turnips, trade/giveaway some DIYs, adopt a villager that someone may not want, or let strangers visit if they need Lilies. I do none of the villager auctions, selling crafting/hybrid breeding services. Any of the hard focus online activities. I'm playing it at my own pace. Plenty of my friends TT ahead to get everything, but I never feel pressured to do the same. Just you do you man, don't worry about how other play or how you compare to them. Play the way that is more fun to you.

 

[Vea]

I play pretty similarly to you. I don't TT and I only really reach out to the online community if there are items I can't seem to get on my own island. But I can see how trading furniture, selling wares, and amassing a fortune to buy certain villagers could be exciting too.

There is no right or wrong, only fun. Let people do what suits them!

 

[tybalt_cake]

the way you play your game is correct
the way others play their game is correct

 

[InkFox]

I understand what you're feeling.
I do go to other people's islands to grab some DIYs and check their stores, but that's about it. When I opened my Island for people to sell their turnips (never again, this was exhausting...), I got about 2.5 million bells in tips (I had to tell people to stop giving me money as I did not want to ruin my game), which are since then sitting in the bank, I never touched it to pay for my loan or for a bridge or whatever, I've always tried to earn every bell myself, because I feel like getting everything on the spot would spoil my enjoyment of the game. It's the same for villagers, I don't see myself buying a villager from someone else, I have considered the option, but it feels wrong. I don't want to have an island full of villagers I have bought without putting in any effort to find them, I'd rather try my luck island hopping and settle for a villager I might not have expected to like or being lucky enough to find one I love. I find it extremely satisfying to know that I have found my villagers myself. I don't own amiibo and don't intend to, it just seems too easy to me, I wouldn't be satisfied. But I don't blame people who use them or buy villagers (I let mine go on other people's islands if anyone wants to adopt them), it's just not my way of playing.
I do not time travel (I did once because I wanted my Island to be on the same stage as my only playing friend), and tbh I quite enjoy waiting for the next day to see the results of whatever I might have accomplished. It might be tempting to speed things up, but I've found much more satisfaction waiting and taking things slow than getting everything done at once.


(Sorry for the crappy English, kinda falling asleep as I'm writing, my brain's already half in the clouds, I'll be back tomorrow haha)

 

[Tatimari]

 

[tajikey]

The core nature of the game is play however you'd like. No sense projecting how others play on how you should.

 

[thelonewanderer]

There's no right way to play. Everyone plays the game differently. For me, I'm playing the way you describe. I take it day by day and worry about my own island. The only time I'm interacting with the online community is when I want to sell a couple hundred turnips, trade/giveaway some DIYs, adopt a villager that someone may not want, or let strangers visit if they need Lilies. I do none of the villager auctions, selling crafting/hybrid breeding services. Any of the hard focus online activities. I'm playing it at my own pace. Plenty of my friends TT ahead to get everything, but I never feel pressured to do the same. Just you do you man, don't worry about how other play or how you compare to them. Play the way that is more fun to you.

Thank you for the response mate but I don't use the online stalk market as I rather take the loss (as I did this week) because failure just mean I have to work harder. You are very similar to me minus the online stalk market. I just don't know how I feel about the online stalk market at this point, like what is Nintendo true intention?

 

[Rave]

I think a lot of it also has to do with the current world situation! I'd definitely be progressing a lot slower in animal crossing if I still had classes to go to every day, but as of now, a lot of people can dedicate a lot more time to the game.

I've done a decent amount of online trading, but there are a few things I prefer to wait on, like not just scanning in all of my favorite villagers with amiibo immediately, or trying to get my own hybrids.

 

[thelonewanderer]

I understand what you're feeling.
I do go to other people's islands to grab some DIYs and check their stores, but that's about it. When I opened my Island for people to sell their turnips (never again, this was exhausting...), I got about 2.5 million bells in tips (I had to tell people to stop giving me money as I did not want to ruin my game), which are since then sitting in the bank, I never touched it to pay for my loan or for a bridge or whatever, I've always tried to earn every bell myself, because I feel like getting everything on the spot would spoil my enjoyment of the game. It's the same for villagers, I don't see myself buying a villager from someone else, I have considered the option, but it feels wrong. I don't want to have an island full of villagers I have bought without putting in any effort to find them, I'd rather try my luck island hopping and settle for a villager I might not have expected to like or being lucky enough to find one I love. I find it extremely satisfying to know that I have found my villagers myself. I don't own amiibo and don't intend to, it just seems too easy to me, I wouldn't be satisfied. But I don't blame people who use them or buy villagers (I let mine go on other people's islands if anyone wants to adopt them), it's just not my way of playing.
I do not time travel (I did once because I wanted my Island to be on the same stage as my only playing friend), and tbh I quite enjoy waiting for the next day to see the results of whatever I might have accomplished. It might be tempting to speed things up, but I've found much more satisfaction waiting and taking things slow than getting everything done at once.


(Sorry for the crappy English, kinda falling asleep as I'm writing, my brain's already half in the clouds, I'll be back tomorrow haha)

Na your English is fine and thank you for long replies. I love long replies. My English suck as well, I could write so much better.

I don't even do what you do as well. I don't go to other island to check out their store or DIY because I feel like eventually our store and our villagers DIY will eventually appear on our island so if we use other people resources, it feel like we are accelerating time. That just how I feel and we are very close in nature otherwise. I just don't know why I feel so strongly about this?

 

[Mairen]

There is no right or wrong way to play this game. The people who want to visit towns for DIYS or go to other towns to guarantee they get the highest turnip prices aren't wrong either though. That is the beauty of animal crossing. Everyone can play in the way that brings them the most enjoyment. Just because it is different from the way you want to play doesn't mean they are wrong. I don't do those things either. I actually restarted my original file because I felt such a disconnect from my town because I personally felt I went too crazy with trading for everything I wanted too quickly. In my current file, I'm being much more strict with myself and unlocking everything on my own. But I also am not about to shame other play styles.

 

[thelonewanderer]

There is no right or wrong way to play this game. The people who want to visit towns for DIYS or go to other towns to guarantee they get the highest turnip prices aren't wrong either though. That is the beauty of animal crossing. Everyone can play in the way that brings them the most enjoyment. Just because it is different from the way you want to play doesn't mean they are wrong. I don't do those things either. I actually restarted my original file because I felt such a disconnect from my town because I personally felt I went too crazy with trading for everything I wanted too quickly. In my current file, I'm being much more strict with myself and unlocking everything on my own. But I also am not about to shame other play styles.

Yes agree but it would still be nice to not be the only one that play like this. There is no sense of belonging or community when I play so different from everyone else.

Don't get me wrong, I love trading or giving away things for free, it just that it feel different for Animal Crossing. MMORPG or other type of game, I do a lot of trading and giveaways but Animal Crossing, it a different type of game altogether. Or in MMORPG, when people give me free stuffs I don't feel bad but when I played New Leaf and a member on here offer to give me 1 millions bells (I bought the game a year and a half after release), I had to decline. It like I have a different mindset entirely when it come to Animal Crossing and only Animal Crossing.

I did so much trading in games like the original Guild Wars. Trading Icy Dragon Sword for other rare in game items. And trading is in my blood as I like playing with others. But not the case with animal crossing and wasn't the case in New Leaf either.

 

[Nefarious]

Thank you for the response mate but I don't use the online stalk market as I rather take the loss (as I did this week) because failure just mean I have to work harder. You are very similar to me minus the online stalk market. I just don't know how I feel about the online stalk market at this point, like what is Nintendo true intention?

I think the initial intention was to share and trade with friends when it comes to the stalk market. It was always a thing since the GC game. People would share each other's memory cards if they got a high turnip price in their shop so they could visit to sell. It's just with the introduction of online play that made it feel like it's somehow playing too fast (or cheating to some), you have more people to share and interact with. Honestly, I don't do much of the online market. Only when I'm getting very low on bells, I'll play it so I can at least get a few 100k to start saving up again. There's plenty of people that go really hard at it though, the ones that will buy thousands turnips and sell them for at least in the high 500s every week. I doubt it was Nintendo's true intention for people to play the market like that, but it is what it is.

 

[thelonewanderer]

the way you play your game is correct
the way others play their game is correct

Yes but are there others that play like me? Because I haven't found them at least not exactly like me. Similar playstyle but not quite the same. While there are no wrong or right way, there is a majority and a minority way.

 

[stitchmaker]

I play AC like you do. Collect and earn bells on my own. With this game I'm sad that the flowers can't be bought on my own island. I do have an online membership and have used it to get some of the missing flowers. Bought a turnip to get the ant.

 

[Mairen]

Yes agree but it would still be nice to not be the only one that play like this. There is no sense of belonging or community when I play so different from everyone else.

Don't get me wrong, I love trading or giving away things for free, it just that it feel different for Animal Crossing. MMORPG or other type of game, I do a lot of trading and giveaways but Animal Crossing, it a different type of game altogether. Or in MMORPG, when people give me free stuffs I don't feel bad but when I played New Leaf and a member on here offer to give me 1 millions bells (I bought the game a year and a half after release), I had to decline. It like I have a different mindset entirely when it come to Animal Crossing and only Animal Crossing.

I did so much trading in games like the original Guild Wars. Trading Icy Dragon Sword for other rare in game items. And trading is in my blood as I like playing with others. But not the case with animal crossing and wasn't the case in New Leaf either.

While it might be unusual, you aren't at all the only person who plays like this. It sounds like you and I have very similar play styles. And even if you were the only one, it's not a competition. As long as you are having fun playing your game the way you want to, then it's safe to say that animal crossing is a good game for you. But if you are constantly miserable because you are always comparing your play style to everyone else, you might want to take a little break, yes? There are plenty of other fantastic games out there too!