Anyone else feel alone and behind?

[Ras]

I’ve been playing since day one and my island isn’t very developed. I feel bad when I see people with awesome finished islands, but I am in the same boat as you and don’t have many great items that give me ideas. I just have to accept that I’m slow and try not to worry about it.

 

[SmoochsPLH]

For me not really mostly cause I'm used to playing ac games solo. I don't really have any friends outside of this forum who play ac so I've always played it alone. Plus my villagers are there!

But yeah there's not really much to do multiplayer wise aside from trading and visiting. I really hope they give us something similar to Tortimer Island in the future. I mean the games only been out for barely a month?

As for the not developed island thing I'm in the same boat. Seeing other's people's beautiful islands (ya'll do some great stuff!) makes me feel a little bad and kinda guilty sometimes. But I just have to remind myself that not everyone works at the same pace. You'll get there!

 

[skogkyst]

I agree with this sentiment somewhat. I wasn't the most active player in the world during New Leaf, but I also definitely was much more community-involved (not here, obviously). This time around, I'm mostly doing things on my island by myself, with some limited trading. I think that my decision not to time travel has left me behind in terms of my island development, my accomplishments, the excitement of trading rare items and villagers, etc. but I'm happy with that decision. Even though my island isn't the prettiest or most developed, I've put my heart into it and I'm satisfied in the end. However, looking at other islands and ideas still makes me jealous occasionally.

 

[sicklewillow]

This is my first main AC game and the main reason I picked up this game because thr atmosphere makes me feel relaxed and not feel like everything is a competition. I always thought that AC games is your own pace type of game and I plan to do so. To be honest, I'm still 2 star island and in no hurry because I want to enjoy it. Don't let social media pressure you to match their pace because this only frustrate you.

 

[Spooky.]

This is my first main AC game and the main reason I picked up this game because thr atmosphere makes me feel relaxed and not feel like everything is a competition. I always thought that AC games is your own pace type of game and I plan to do so. To be honest, I'm still 2 star island and in no hurry because I want to enjoy it. Don't let social media pressure you to match their pace because this only frustrate you.

I've been trying to just do my own pace, but I feel constantly unsatisfied, and even more so when I see other people's islands. I try to remind myself that my island is for me, but even then it feels like it's not enough.

 

[DJStarstryker]

Don't worry, you are not behind. I've been playing daily since March 20, with hundreds of hours played. I've barely touched the terraforming tool and have done very little to develop my island. I'm just working at my own pace and slowly formulating my plan.

Take inspiration from others, but don't let them stress or pressure you.

 

[Aleigh]

I totally get where you're coming from. I feel the same way. Even my coworker who I played with for a bit has her own AC group and idk I feel weird now asking to play.

Even on this forum I feel like everyone has like, not "cliques" so to say, but set groups? The only times people go to other people's towns outside of their normal groups are for trades. idk I always feel lonely and ignored though so I'm a little biased.

As for being behind goes, I feel that way too. I keep seeing every posting about their islands and they're so built and they have hybrids and fences and items and paths everywhere and it all looks like a dream. I've put so much time and work into mine but compared to all of these amazing islands I feel like if someone were to visit mine, they'd think I was behind or started late for something when in fact I've been playing basically nonstop since the release. My town is not nearly as cute and as organized as a lot of peoples, but I like to tell myself that it's just because I like the more natural looking towns instead of insanely built towns and that I'm not behind, I just have a different style island. Yes, I am jealous of a lot of player's islands, but in no way am I saying that they bring me down. I love looking at them all and getting ideas from them as well since everyone have different trains of thoughts

that was long im so sorry no one has to read that
TLDR: I'm a sad and jealous person but I love seeing what everyone's doing

 

[GEEBRASS]

This is my first AC game, so I don't have any other social context to put it in other than the slow solo experience I've been having, but I find myself wishing some of my IRL friends played so that we could island-hop together and have some fun. Though I haven't tried to make any personal connections here on the forums, I get the sense that it wouldn't be hard to reach out (as you've done!) and find a warm embrace, which is pretty great.

I've found it very easy to be overwhelmed by some of the pictures and videos I've seen of people (or groups) who have terraformed and decorated every square of their map, and/or time-traveled their way into as-yet inaccessible riches and wonders, but like AndrewGK said above, I've let myself take a step back, find some inspiration here and there for my own plans, and continue happily at my snail's pace. Some days maybe I'll add or move a couple pieces of decoration, or mess with a few squares of pathway, some days I'll spend a couple hours trying to get one idea in one little area just right, many days I don't change a thing at all.

I sincerely hope you find some of the community you seek through your outreach here, and I applaud you for having the courage to speak up!

 

[skogkyst]

I've been trying to just do my own pace, but I feel constantly unsatisfied, and even more so when I see other people's islands. I try to remind myself that my island is for me, but even then it feels like it's not enough.

Another thing to keep in mind is that some people are pushing 200+ or 300+ hours into the game and constantly time-traveling and trading to get items using resources they garnered via their time traveling. It's difficult to compete with that.

I'm sure that your island is beautiful in its own way 99% of players don't have the crazy, super extra designs and resources that the other 1% get a lot of attention for, and that's something I remind myself whenever I feel inferior.

 

[Fey]

I’m really lucky in that I live in a household where four people play—on three separate Switches even—but I still understand what you mean. My hope for NH was that multiplayer would be expanded, not reduced to purely trades and showing off our progress. I really wanted minigames available on our own Islands, but instead they were just cut completely.

That said, I’ll gladly come over and hang out sometime, even if it’s just fishing and chatting a bit. I’ve actually not interacted much with people here ingame—everyone is always in a rush to leave after trades. It’d be nice to connect with others more! ^ｪ^

 

[Babylon]

Two trains of thought:

The silver lining of the mini games being taken out is that people have to get so much more creative. I’ve pretty much dedicated my island to be “a bunch of mini games” so I can play with others. I know AC is a solo player game but I’ve always had more fun playing online games so I tried recreate that. I too wondered, “uhhh like what would someone do on my island other than fish?” So I created some mazes, tag areas, and often use the timer to hold fishing or bug catching competitions. Nintendo took out mini games but they still have colorful wheels, timers and terraforming which I feel begs you to be creative about pretend play.

The second thought I have is about the online trading economy. I hustled HARD on multiple platforms (TBT, Instagram, Discord, Messaging IRL Friends) to make an unnecessary amount of NMT and bells. I spent 200+ hours just amassing wealth after my first week of on the island. At first it was because I was lonely and didn’t know how else to interact with people other than trading. Then it morphed into a weird “I need MOAR” mindset haha. But it was fun for me so I don’t regret playing that way. However, the downside to having enough to trade in the online marketplace is that the core game becomes less special. When I paid off my first two home loans I was SO HAPPY. When I started making more money it felt like a daily chore to just open the ABD and pay it off in one go. I also have ZERO consideration for Flick and C.J. Because I don’t catch bugs for money anymore. It’s weird and melancholy that aspects of the game lose their pull when you get into trading. The last big thing that trading has affected is crafting. If I can sell a stack of wood for 100k that means each piece of wood I chop is worth 3k. That means it’s cheaper to buy tools from nooks cranny than it is to make tools if you’re trading mats.
So there are quality of gameplay downsides to having more than “500k bells to your name”. I just wanted to give you some insight into the other side. Kind of like, the grass is greener on the other side
It is hard to not have bells and it can be sad at times to have bells.

Edit: DM me your friend code if you want to be included in any mini game sessions

 

[sdw4527]

Aww don't feel that way! It's so easy to get overwhelmed especially with the influx of new people to the community thanks to this game's popularity. I haven't felt "lonely" per se as I have a very small group of friends I chat with about the game, but I can totally understand that sentiment.

One thing I totally agree with you on is the constant showcase of 5 star towns on social media. There was one point where I felt the same as you after seeing so many of them. Kept on asking myself "why does my town suck in comparison?" "Why am I so uncreative and behind?"

Honestly and it might be hard, but don't compare your island to others! It's totally fine if you're further behind than others. This isn't a race. In fact, I bet a large number of those people with 5 star towns are already feeling "done" with the game. Animal Crossing is a series that's meant to be played over the course of a year (or more). What's the point in completing your island a month into the game? My island is nowhere even close to amazing, and I realized that's totally ok!

 

[JKDOS]

I've been trying to just do my own pace, but I feel constantly unsatisfied, and even more so when I see other people's islands. I try to remind myself that my island is for me, but even then it feels like it's not enough.

My town isn't too developed right now, and I've been playing since 19th of March. I too had been feeling unsatisfied.

I got stuck trying to design a layout for my town since I struggle a lot with creativity and envisioning. After unlocking terraforming, I designed what I thought was good, but I hated it after a few days because it didn't have good potential for decorating and filling in with furniture, and the scenery was boring. So I reterraformed a couple more times and still wasn't happy. So I ended up cutting down over 90% of my trees, and moved all furniture to storage. My town became a barren wasteland. And I spent nearly a few weeks running in circles feeling depressed over it and not knowing what I wanted to do. Earth Day was hard for me because I couldn't get excited for bushes when I didn't really have a town for them, but it did help motivate me to continue trying, and later thay day I saw the hedges on YouTube, and that really motivated me.

I'm finally slowly but surely executing a plan for town layout. I really like what I got now, and although things are moving along slowly, I'm really glad it's working for me after the rough few weeks I had. For me personally, I like to keep a relaxing and simplistic look to the town. I don't want it to look too overstylized or modern. While that may mean it won't look as exciting as some towns you'll see on YouTube, it feels special to me, which is all that matters.

I guess what I'm trying to say is hang in there and things may work out for you and get better.

 

[Strong Badam]

I've spent a lot of time surfing the cranny forum, on occasion I saw people asking for bells, but no one wants TBT anymore which is all I have right now. I have about 500k bells to my name, which I only even have because I was lucky to buy 2 mill off of someone early on. So I don't really have bells to buy with. It's been a struggle. I didn't want to cave in and use nmt cause it seems such a silly currency to me, and a long process to get, but I guess I have to give in.

Here's a player that's doing exchanges: https://www.belltreeforums.com/thre...t-100-tbt-for-1m-igb-18-tbt-for-1-nmt.516942/

 

[ceribells]

Oh Spooky, looking at your avatar, maybe we were meant to be friends? After all, only really cool ladies love Bob that much...
I feel like I'm having difficulty even getting people I know irl to come over. Maybe just the weirdness in the world as of late, or the increased access to web communities? Browsing this forum when NL came out, I don't think you would have ever found trades on Twitter (tumblr and FB maybe).

I also recall NL had a feature where you could make somebody a best friend and IM them if you were both online, without actually visiting each other. I got to know a one or two people quite well just from chatting while we each did our own thing. I haven't done any NH online yet, partially because the trade scene is booming and I feel not ready for it, but I enjoyed that feature a lot.

 

[purple_vixen]

Not everyone is money hungry, @Spooky. Do you have an item wishlist? If you post it, maybe we can see who has the right items to catalogue for free, or what we can craft you. Clever people like @rayraysparkles might even be able to help you with letting you use their path designs or help you find stuff that suits your island theme.

Most people who I interact with here more than once, it has been where we've bumped into one another, and then it's human nature to reach out to people who we know. With a new game, it's daunting not to know many people, but we are all starting together, so we can slowly make friends with the multiple little interactions, and help each other out on the way. It's easier to make friends with common interests, so we're all probably more compatible as friends than your average bunch of strangers

As far as feeling behind goes - I think that we all look at perfectly arranged, decorated islands intermittently and despair, think about resetting or radically redesigning, but sometimes I know that I need to look for the fun in the game, and stop treating it like work that I need to get done to the best of my ability. Yes, focusing on the game during lockdown is a good distraction for me, but I need to take the time to enjoy it, not just work through checklists. It's okay to feel however you feel, but try not to get too stressed over what you haven't done, yet. We'll have another day tomorrow, and another one the day after that.

 

[Spooky.]

Not everyone is money hungry, @Spooky. Do you have an item wishlist? If you post it, maybe we can see who has the right items to catalogue for free, or what we can craft you. Clever people like @rayraysparkles might even be able to help you with letting you use their path designs or help you find stuff that suits your island theme.

Most people who I interact with here more than once, it has been where we've bumped into one another, and then it's human nature to reach out to people who we know. With a new game, it's daunting not to know many people, but we are all starting together, so we can slowly make friends with the multiple little interactions, and help each other out on the way. It's easier to make friends with common interests, so we're all probably more compatible as friends than your average bunch of strangers

As far as feeling behind goes - I think that we all look at perfectly arranged, decorated islands intermittently and despair, think about resetting or radically redesigning, but sometimes I know that I need to look for the fun in the game, and stop treating it like work that I need to get done to the best of my ability. Yes, focusing on the game during lockdown is a good distraction for me, but I need to take the time to enjoy it, not just work through checklists. It's okay to feel however you feel, but try not to get too stressed over what you haven't done, yet. We'll have another day tomorrow, and another one the day after that.

Ahh, it's not my intent to call people money hungry, I apologize if it came off that way. I'm also not trying to fish for free items either. I don't feel entitled to anything free, this is more of my feeling of being behind in being able to make bells and nook miles for myself, you know? I look at people who have loads to spend and wonder how they do it. Or how I seem to have terrible luck getting DIYs that I want.

 

[LilyLynne]

I have a group I play with some so the loneliness isn't so much a problem. I tend to be a mostly solo person anyway. But I understand the frustration about decorating your town. I am not the most creative person and it is hard for me to look at the layout of an island and envision what I might do with it. I felt a bit inadequate for a while since you see all the fancy islands Youtube and such.
Really though it isn't a race to get your town finished first. I have gotten to where I am enjoying taking my time with it. I have found if I do small changes at a time it is easier for me.
Also I am glad to know I am not the only one who likes the simplistic look to my town. I want it to keep the tropical island look.

You are welcome to come visit sometime if you would like.

 

[meo]

I think something I forgot to add in my other post...
Sometimes, taking longer to create something is for the best. Sometimes trying to rush everything together at the start kind of comes off as just that..rushed. Or things get added that might change your plans but, when you rushed to put every detail in place, it may complicate fitting in the new things.
I think the towns that you see that people really spend a lot of time on tend to usually have more details and little meanings in each area.
That's to say, not shading anyone that does have fully completed towns. Some are truly great at putting together a vision quickly and they're really great pieces of work.

I spent 6 years total putting together my NL town. So, I already had no expectations for getting things put together in NH right away. I want to have as much play value in this game as I did in NL. So, I just kinda look at it as enjoying the ride.
Neither of my towns are in any form designed towards what I want permanently. Right now I'm just getting my catalog expanded, enjoying my villagers (getting their photos), unlocking 5 star for the gold recipe/ladders.

So, for anyone stressed about where you're at, try not to compare and just enjoy things at your own pace. It'll all come together in the end.

 

[Clock]

I feel like I’m behind on items and the nice layout, but I should be grateful with what I have because in a future update with more buildings, it’s going to be a hassle redoing everything.