[deleted]

[meggiewes]

I really dislike the word "burnout" for the feeling of being done with a video game. It's totally normal to feel done with something after spending a long period of time with it. Especially with a game that you can put hundreds of hours in.

Spoiler

Off topic side note: I learned the definition of burnout as a severe medical condition that can plague people with intense emotional jobs like doctors, nurses, and teachers. So that's why I don't like it being used to describe with the feeling of being done with a video game. However, I am also very aware that I am one of the very few people who has an issue with that. I just have to get it off my chest every once in a while.

That being said, I haven't experienced the feeling of being done with ACNH because I haven't completed things. But I also restarted my island within the current year and basically played a year really quickly with time traveling. I have felt tired of it and I haven't been playing it much in favor of other games. I know I'll be beck into more intense play eventually, so I'm fine with taking a break. At least my villagers won't move out on me like in New Leaf.

TLDR: It is ok to drop a video game if you aren't having fun with it anymore. It doesn't matter of you have played it for 1k hours or 5 minutes.

 

[Corrie]

I haven't done any of those things and already feel burnout lolol. Kudos to anyone who actually has completed those.

 

[CrankyCupcake]

I think I'm going to go out on a limb and say something crazy.

There's a difference between (1) feeling done with a game because you have done everything you set out to do and nothing about playing it some more gives you a sense of challenge, excitement or satisfaction, and (2) feeling done with the game because you have done everything to enjoy it the way you expect to enjoy it or the way you've seen other players enjoy it but everything you continue to do leaves you with an overwhelming sense of dissatisfaction.

On a personal note, I'm not done with NH. I'm not a completionist, so completing the museum or nook mile achievements etc don't matter to me. I will be done when I no longer look forward to moving new animals in, because that's how I've always enjoyed the game. When that happens, I'll take the good memories I've had playing and move on. I don't think I've ever felt burned out on a game. I usually set goals and stop when I've accomplished them or when I realize that I'm never going to accomplish them. It happens a lot.

It's okay to feel the way you feel. It might also be beneficial to sit back and look at why you're feeling badly about playing the game, and then make a decision to step away and find something more fulfilling to play or do for a while. The power of choice is a wonderful thing.

 

[a potato]

I definitely don’t feel as inspired as I’ve been in the past, but school/life has been taking up most of my time, so it’s hard to say if I’m truly burnt out. By the time I’m ready to play, I just want to relax, so I mainly wander around my town and do my dailies. I’m planning to play more once the semester is over, though.

 

[PugLovex]

i’m still working on my island and museum so i’m not really burnt out yet, however it might get to me when it’s done. fortunately, i’m kind of a staller so it will probably take a while lol, as i still have not finished my new leaf town after 6 years

 

[Marshmallows]

I only burnout on a video game if I go overboard with it. When it starts to feel like a chore, that's burnout (for me.)

Being bored or not knowing what else to do is just part of playing a game. I don't want to grind for stamps or the museum, so I'm taking a short break until something new comes along or I get an idea. I actually have a whole island makeover I'd like to do, but I'm procrastinating.

 

[LambdaDelta]

I have completed neither of these things, so lol

 

[Mokuren]

Oh yes I got really burned out in the middle of the design process. I felt bad about my island because I watched videos of all this stunning islands. Mine was just bad compared to it lol So I took a 10 month break and returned because a friend started playing.

I have flaten my island and created a new one with a theme this time and I love the outcome so far but after a month I stopped playing again... so yes the burn out is real. In this AC I only play for designing. I don't care about the villagers tbh they are.all the same sadly xD

 

[_Donut_]

Recently I have completed my museum & all DIYS, the only thing left are completing all order items from the store & all clothing but I'm kinda on edge on starting with that since it seems like it will be such a hassle to first see what I still need to collect and then find all of it ._.

 

[mermaidshelf]

I feel like I'm in a diff position than most people: during the height of the pandemic I was working full-time and was experiencing actual burn out at my work. I found the game difficult to play and the more stuff came out, the harder it was for me to pick it up. I quit my job last August and around October I moved back in with my parents and I started playing non-stop while I was waiting for my new contract to start. Actually it was both fun and terribly tedious and stressful building up relationships with my villagers, catching all the bugs and fish, working on completing my catalog/trying to complete the Nook Miles Achievements (which I'm still working through) and events. Now that I'm done with my orderable catalog and close to finishing unorderables, for the first time ever, I'm starting on terraforming/decorating. Mind you, I've had this game since launch lmao. And it feels nice!!! Decorating was my favorite part of NL. I do wish we had better furniture but I'm glad I can now take it easy and focus on the thing that brings me the most joy.

 

[kayleee]

I actually haven't completed my museum or Nook Miles achievements yet, and I'm still changing/redecorating areas of my island so that's not finished either. I can imagine after completing everything I'll probably play the game a bit less than I do now. I'm sorry to hear about your negative experience with the game!

 

[coldpotato]

The burnout is pretty strong for me. I agree that this game was so helpful during the start of the pandemic. I open my game a couple times a month now at most when I used to play the game for 8-12 hours a day sometimes and it would be a wholesome way for me to feel like I was visiting with friends/family when we couldn't in person and to feel like I'm being productive completing certain tasks. I would work on collecting DIYS I didn't have through trades, completing my museum, get everything I want from NPCS, breed flowers, would play games that people hosted on their islands on twitch, host my own games, made a free catalog island for people to come and go (which is where I met quite a few bad apples who would try to wreck things for other people, so I can agree with you that some people in the community are just not very nice people. I liked to assume they were kids that didn't know better).

I kept on designing my island and updating it. I now am burned out on designing, completed my DIY collection, museum, got pretty much everything I wanted in my catalog. My friends/family hardly ever play anymore. The updates draw them back in sometimes but then they don't open their games for months. I feel like if I didn't remind them of the game they would forget it even existed. I may sound like a broken record because I say this so much but I strongly feel like an update with new gameplay is much needed so the people burned out who completed so much can enjoy the game again. Even just adding farming of new vegetables would draw me back in, and could possibly get people to come back that have been burnt out and left animal crossing for farming simulators. The addition of new gameplay doesn't have to be big, they just need to give me something new to do so I will want to open my game more often again. I don't expect to ever get drawn back in and play as much as I did before, but I want something to draw me back in for at least an hour or two again. It's hard for me to keep the game open more than 30 minutes at a time now.

 

[Sarah3]

I wouldn't say burnout, but I definitely have been slowing my playtime a bit due to finishing everything up. But I'll just continue to look forward to future updates and play when I can!

 

[Stalfos]

Yeah, I'll feel a bit burnt out from time to time, but that's fine, I don't have to play Animal Crossing all the time. Play or do something else when that happens. Forcing oneself to play is only gonna worsen the burnout.

I haven't felt motivated to play as much in the last months but since I decided to completely redo the upper half of my island, I feel that inspiration coming back. So far I've played for 1,100 hours which is quite a bit, but I hope to keep at it for at least another year even if I might not log as many hours as I have this previous year.

 

[corlee1289]

My main goal was to complete my museum in full and I finally have That has always been my goal when I played ACNL and in ACNH.

In terms of the landscaping, I’m satisfied with what I have it as now. I just wished the NH game had the stuff finalized?

Like how in NL, I knew we were getting a café, police station, and all the PWP, so I was able to have a mapped outline of where I wanted everything to be outside.

But because I don’t know if we’re going to get those structures, part of me doesn’t want to have me needing to wrack my brain of WHERE I would put those thing AFTER they get included.

I got burned by the shrubs/bushes. I didn’t think we would get bushes, so I planned out my island without bushes and then they got patched it and I had to reorganize everything on how I wanted my island.

So, my island is complete as is. Is it fully where I want it to be? No. But it’s good enough to how I want it now with what we have. It also give me some room to modify how I want things to be if we ever get the café.

 

[Mr.Fox]

I can't believe there are people who have completed all the Nook mile achievements...that's just insane...especially since you can't control 'Smile Isle'.

 

[peachycrossing9]

I can't believe there are people who have completed all the Nook mile achievements...that's just insane...especially since you can't control 'Smile Isle'.

I know.. how are people doing that? XD

 

[Moritz]

If I'm being completely honest, the time at which I play the game each day has started to shrink now that I achieved most of my goals.

I'm still missing a lot of stamps but come on, some like smile Isle, making tools and items, and the ones for listening to KK are kind of unreasonable to expect a normal player to ever achieve. They went super over board making them lol.

But I don't feel I'm burnt out on the game.
Its just that after a year of playing 1 game and spending a thousand hours on it, I'm running out of things I want to do now.

And it's not like I'm not enjoying the game any more. I can still get a minimum of 1 hour on there a day where I have lots of fun.
Just not so easy to reach the 6 hour marks now.

When I compare the amount of enjoyment I've gotten from this game to other games I own, it's incredible how much value I have gotten for my money. I think the only game that I've spent more time on is world of warcraft, an mmo I've been playing for years, had to buy multiple expansions for, as well as a monthly sub.

I know a lot of us have sunk a lot of our lives into the game due to covid causing such disruptions all over the world, and that we are all very attached to it.
But its also just still a video game.

If anyone is feeling burnt out and can't find anything they want to do in the game, then it's okay to move on to something else.
Its sad when you have to let go of something you love, but it's natural to not want to play a video game any more.
When that day comes for me, and it will come, it will be disappointing. But I hope to find something else to fill my time with.

 

[VanitasFan26]

I wouldn't say burnout, but I definitely have been slowing my playtime a bit due to finishing everything up. But I'll just continue to look forward to future updates and play when I can!

Thats what I've been doing too. I went from playing 8 hours to just playing 15 minutes. Most of my time is just gifting villagers until I get their Photo, Checking the Rocks, and thats pretty much it.

 

[Jaco]

I've been working on my island for over a year and have maybe finished half of it.