Nintendo is being too slow on the updates (Real Talk)

[VanitasFan26]

Since we are at the end of March and going into April 2021 I've been noticing that there is a divide in the community right now. I seen people saying "Oh stop complaining about Brewster he's never gonna come" and then you have others saying "Oh this game is so terrible they still haven' t given us what we want". People seem to either accept the game for what it is and you have others trying so hard to tell Nintendo to bring back a lot of things to the game and improve on it.

Let me just say this and let me be very clear about this. I don't hate New Horizons its a good and it isn’t terrible, but I feel like Nintendo is just rolling things out very slowly, They really haven't been telling us much of what to expect in 2021. If they would've just put out a trailer showing what we can look forward to in the future then that would make so much more sense and there would not be this much speculation.

I know every time when anyone talks badly about the game, some people feel the need to defend it because they are either sick and tired of hearing the same arguments and they tell them to just "accept the game for what it is or play something else" and then on the other side there is people saying how they still want the game to be improved and there is still stuff missing that they are not really showing or talking about lately.

I am personally in the middle and I see both sides and I can understand from their viewpoints. However I can pretty much see why it has led to this and I think it has to do with Nintendo being slow on the updates and not really giving us like a full trailer of what to expect in 2021. I remember last year when the game was out they showed us a trailer of what to see in 2020 like the Leif and Redd returning, May Day Event, and pretty much telling us to keep a look out for the holiday events. Thats how people back last year didn't speculate too much, because they know what was coming and were looking forward to it.

However, in 2021 we really haven't gotten much info on what to expect later in the year. Jaunary was dry, February was the Festivale event which we knew it was coming since last year, then we had the Mario day update, which again was something we already knew last year. Now recently we have the Sanrio update, with some new seasonal items being added, a new quality of life change which we can have the Kiosk on our nookhpone and have more custom design slots (which was awesome), and finally the return of Bunny Day, which is good for people who never played it last year.

So I just wanted to get this out there, because it seems like after the 1 year anniversary there has been more growing frustrations about the game not improving and so much callouts to Nintendo not really giving us much info on what to look forward to this year. What do you guys think? This is just something that has been on my mind recently and I've been noticing this for quite some time.

Edit: I seen some really interesting debates going on and its good to keep the conversation going, but don't get too defensive if you disagree with someone's opinion. Everyone has different views on how they see the game and thats fine as long as you respect others. This post is not meant to change other people's opinions or control how they play the game, it is meant to acknowledge things that can be done better going forward. Again I cannot stress this enough this is not "negative" or "complaining" like some people are saying its to give context on the situation.

 

[FaerieRose]

New Leaf didn’t get the Welcome Amiibo update until 3 years after it released. I’m not panicking yet.

 

[TheRevienne]

I don't think they're slow with the updates per say, I think we're expecting them too fast. I've said in another thread I made when the game came out and people were on lockdown, all we did was play the game, whereas with previous games we had real life as well, like school, work, etc. But since we had all that free time, we've 'consumed' all the content the game has to offer, whether you're playing at a slow pace or not, on the whole people have just poured hours and hours into the game, myself included.

I don't know what Nintendo plans for the future updates for the game, none of us do really, we can speculate, which ends up getting people's hopes up and then dashed when it doesn't happen, or we can just wait and see what comes. It'd be great if we saw series classics like Brewster back or Cooper and Booker in some role, but Nintendo has always marched to the beat of its own drum, and puts things out when they're ready to. For example, the game itself was pushed back to 20th March 2020 after being billed for a late 2019 release.

Patience and not getting too caught up in what we want I think is the key going forward. I hope that since things are getting somewhat back to 'normal' (let's face it, we'll never be 100% normal again, whatever normal was), but AC should take a back seat in people's lives, like the previous games did, as we all get back to real life. Once that happens, the updates won't seem as slow.

 

[Matt0106]

Personally, I'm not having any problem with how they are rolling things out. Like @FaerieRose stated, New Leaf had to wait a couple years to actually get a real update. Therefore, I'm quite content with what we're getting. Also compared to previous entries, Nintendo is updating events with new items in Nook's Cranny, I can't complain given that previous entries never got that kind of treatment.

 

[VanitasFan26]

I don't think they're slow with the updates per say, I think we're expecting them too fast. I've said in another thread I made when the game came out and people were on lockdown, all we did was play the game, whereas with previous games we had real life as well, like school, work, etc. But since we had all that free time, we've 'consumed' all the content the game has to offer, whether you're playing at a slow pace or not, on the whole people have just poured hours and hours into the game, myself included.

I don't know what Nintendo plans for the future updates for the game, none of us do really, we can speculate, which ends up getting people's hopes up and then dashed when it doesn't happen, or we can just wait and see what comes. It'd be great if we saw series classics like Brewster back or Cooper and Booker in some role, but Nintendo has always marched to the beat of its own drum, and puts things out when they're ready to. For example, the game itself was pushed back to 20th March 2020 after being billed for a late 2019 release.

Patience and not getting too caught up in what we want I think is the key going forward. I hope that since things are getting somewhat back to 'normal' (let's face it, we'll never be 100% normal again, whatever normal was), but AC should take a back seat in people's lives, like the previous games did, as we all get back to real life. Once that happens, the updates won't seem as slow.

Yeah I know this game came out during a time when the whole world was in lockdown and this game was the reason why people spend so much time on it. It is true that we spent a lot of time on this game more than any other game than before. I think we should really slow down on the speculations, because a lot of times when Nintendo mentions something that is coming, people tend to speculate "Oh what if this is there or what if this NPC makes a return this time"? Most times when that happens people get their hopes up too high and they got disappointed.

Its impossible to predict whats going to happen in the future and I think by the end of the day we will get more updates with the game, since Nintendo made it clear that they were planning on supporting this game for 3 to 4 years so its not like they are going to abandon the game and move on to something else. All we can do is wait and see what happens. For now I think we just need to really slow down on the speculations, because I can see it being pretty tiring and it can pretty repetitive. We can only hope for so much and when it doesn't happened we just have to keep on waiting until it eventually happens. Its frustrating I know, but it is what it is.

 

[mirukushake]

This isn't a live service game, so it's not like Nintendo needs to be putting out updates constantly to keep people playing or paying a subscription. They are just a bonus to me, basically. When I get bored, I focus on playing something else; when an update catches my eye or I get the itch to play, I focus on this game again. That's how I played New Leaf and it hasn't changed for this game either.

Plus, Nintendo has always been about doing things their own way and in accordance to their own vision, so I think a lot of the updates that people are expecting may never come, but we can always be pleasantly surprised.

 

[TheRevienne]

Yeah I know this game came out during a time when the whole world was in lockdown and this game was the reason why people spend so much time on it. It is true that we spent a lot of time on this game more than any other game than before. I think we should really slow down on the speculations, because a lot of times when Nintendo mentions something that is coming, people tend to speculate "Oh what if this is there or what if this NPC makes a return this time"? Most times when that happens people get their hopes up too high and they got disappointed.

Its impossible to predict whats going to happen in the future and I think by the end of the day we will get more updates with the game, since Nintendo made it clear that they were planning on supporting this game for 3 to 4 years so its not like they are going to abandon the game and move on to something else. All we can do is wait and see what happens. For now I think we just need to really slow down on the speculations, because I can see it being pretty tiring and it can pretty repetitive. We can only hope for so much and when it doesn't happened we just have to keep on waiting until it eventually happens. Its frustrating I know, but it is what it is.

Yes, I definitely agree there. What really doesn't help is youtube channels seeing that updates are coming out and making videos on what it could be, who could be coming back. But they get views I guess so it doesn't matter to them, but people who believe them and start to think themselves, or, so and so is coming back, just end up being disappointed when it's not their fault, Nintendos, or the games. It's the fault of the person who made the video or started the rumor :L

I think that not everything was fully ready for release, and rather than push the game back further they decided to release updates throughout the year. I also think they did it to stop hackers and people like that, I mean people were duping really early on, and they jumped on that really quickly. They lost a lot of money with the 3DS/DS and people being able to port games to things like R4 cards and the like, so I think that doing it the way they did it is an attempt to stop that. Exactly though it is what it is, things will come, things won't come, and we just got to wait and see and be patient, and for the rumor mill not to be stoked by youtube channels and other sources. :L

 

[Coach]

I think the update style itself is ok, but the issue is that the base game has very limited content milestones. In NL you had way more shops to unlock, more furniture, all events at base. That's why there are more complaints. The updates like the Redd+Leif or Diving ones were received really well, and I think if the event updates all included new features (Like the recent design changes) it's a lot better for game longevity.

 

[Fridaynightcatlady]

Wasn't March packed in terms of updates?

 

[satine]

I'm kind of in both camps here.

The once-a-month pace isn't slow to me. And really it's a little more frequent than I had originally expected. My issue is not with the pace of the updates, or the pace of the announcements. It's just with the contents of the updates in general.

This last update, they gave us a few little quality-of-life things which was very nice. And honestly it was extraordinarily surprising to me, because quality-of-life seemed to be rather neglected before. My issue is just that they're adding all these little extras or bonuses that are NOT core elements of the game (Sanrio -- of course super cute but I mean, it's more of a crossover thing than an AC thing, regardless of whether or not it was in one previous iteration of the game; also Mario for the same reasons) before they're adding back things that ARE core elements, things that the majority of the fanbase might dearly miss. I think Nintendo needs to focus on completing the game rather than adding in little bonus features or crossovers.

Obviously the event updates are to be expected and are nice. They said they'd do events this way, so it makes sense that the majority of them are centered around upcoming events. That's not my complaint. I just would've preferred they added in more of the core characters or elements of the game as well as very common quality-of-life requests (Brewster, gyroids, maybe some better house upgrades, maybe bulk crafting, better villager dialogue, other missing NPCs like Gracie Grace or Kapp'n or Tortimer, etc etc etc) before adding on all these little extras that in the end are appealing, but not very relevant to the game itself in the long run.

 

[WaileaNoRei]

I remember when they released the first summer update, I was skeptical because I thought ‘but I don’t really need more to do’ - of course now I take diving for granted. (though I still find I don’t have as much time to do it as I would like, because I get caught up in tidying and talking to my villagers and time just flies by!)

I have become accustomed to having updates now, and look forward to them and having a little extra excitement in the game. About 1 per 1-3 months is manageable to me, because if they were more frequent I feel like it would be too much (for me), and I’d feel obligated to play a certain amount just to keep up, and although I play a ton I like it to be something I want to do not something I ‘have’ to do.

however in my opinion (just my own personal opinion not something I expect everyone to sign on for) after spending over 1600 hours playing this game i would honestly be totally okay, even happy to finally be bored and able to cool it on playing the game a bit.

personally, I feel like the amount of playtime and enjoyment for me has so very far exceeded my expectations (and sunk costs) for any game or single activity that i am totally satisfied and would not really feel I had cause for complaint if the updates ended now (though I am happy they are not ending yet, I definitely want to keep getting updates!)

I know the game isn’t perfect (do I love going into the able’s dressing room 1000 times, or crafting 500 individual fish baits one at a time, or being limited to only 10 villagers? - of course not!), I’m not in denial, or expecting everyone to only have good things to say, but this is just my personal, hundred percent honest opinion for my experience. Anything I could put 1600 hours into in under a year feels pretty absurd for me to try and say it was lacking, for me at least. (It was basically impossible for me to have put any more time in without quitting my job and abandoning my family).

I hope everyone gets what they are missing and longing for, I really 100% do (as long as it isn’t paid dlc) but for me everything else is just gravy


(Disclaimer- this really is just my own perspective on my own experience and expectations- not trying to convince anyone or make anyone feel bad, or anything like that, etc.)

Post automatically merged: Mar 28, 2021

Yeah I know this game came out during a time when the whole world was in lockdown and this game was the reason why people spend so much time on it. It is true that we spent a lot of time on this game more than any other game than before. I think we should really slow down on the speculations, because a lot of times when Nintendo mentions something that is coming, people tend to speculate "Oh what if this is there or what if this NPC makes a return this time"? Most times when that happens people get their hopes up too high and they got disappointed.

Its impossible to predict whats going to happen in the future and I think by the end of the day we will get more updates with the game, since Nintendo made it clear that they were planning on supporting this game for 3 to 4 years so its not like they are going to abandon the game and move on to something else. All we can do is wait and see what happens. For now I think we just need to really slow down on the speculations, because I can see it being pretty tiring and it can pretty repetitive. We can only hope for so much and when it doesn't happened we just have to keep on waiting until it eventually happens. Its frustrating I know, but it is what it is.

I definitely agree with your point about YouTube fan ‘update’ trailers and speculations

I think unfortunately the 1st anniversary was a somewhat fan invented major milestone, when Nintendo never gave any indication that they were considering it a major event in game or deadline for major changes/ updates/ additions. It is easy for speculation to kind of take on it’s own momentum online, no matter how removed it is from the facts and that can lead to a lot of disappointment - kind of reminds me when I used to see people make ‘fan casts’ for movie adaptations of books and comics on places like tumblr - people would get so angry that this person the fan community decided was right for a role had been ‘robbed’ when in actuality they were never even under consideration.

 

[Rosch]

We should be more patient. The second year of the game has just begun.

The update was recently released less than two weeks ago (March 17) and people already want a new update so soon. Of course I understand why. The features most demanded by [vocal] fans want are still missing. Sure, the update might be useless to some, but the AC fandom is huge and there are many others (especially new fans) who appreciate these things.

--

Since we're talking about updates anyway, let's look ahead and consider the next one...

Last year, v1.2.0 (April 23) gave us bushes (Leif), art (Redd), Nature Day, May Day (Rover), Int'l Museum Day (Stamp Rally), & the Wedding Season (Reese & Cyrus). Then v1.3.0 (July 3) gave us diving, Pascal (mermaid set), & Gullivarrr (pirate set). Then v1.4.0 (July 30) gave us the Fireworks Show, & dreaming (Luna).

The NPCs and added game mechanics are out of the list. And the events above aren't really considered holidays, so the updates will most likely just reactivate said events and add some new items (obviously for Rover). If you think about it, it will be very small, content-wise (and that's three updates combined into one). Also time-wise, the updates should tide us over between after Bunny Day up until Halloween (late April to September).

So surely Nintendo must have a plan for this. And what a perfect time to provide us a new set of NPCs and introduce or return mechanics and items.

I am hopeful and will continue to give this a chance until the developers finally stop supporting this game.


EDIT:
Some datamining news that could interest others...

In the datamine, there are indications that villagers can wear wetsuits, hospital and school clothes automatically. But there are currently no situations that triggers it. Just think: villagers wearing raincoats automatically when it rains, or changing to workout clothes when exercising.

Previously, it was hinted that Lottie might return, so it might be related.

 

[RollingAntony]

Some people just will never be happy with this game, it's far easier to accept that instead of trying to unravel a code of why "people are disappointed" or there is a "great divide". Even if all the things the very loud fans ask are added, you won't please everyone. Because everyone has different expectations and many people keep hyping themselves over nothing and when it's obvious the developers aren't catering to their exact taste, they get disappointed.

You say people last year "didn't speculate too much" and I'm struggling to see how you reached that conclusion. Ever since April, people were repeating the same things over and over again, because "the datamine" said so, because of course that NPC has to be added, because etc. Like, some content creators on YouTube "speculate" on the return of Brewster like every two weeks since the game was released. Too many articles about the game talk about the new things but always include an addendum about "what x thing is not".

So many people pushed this narrative about the game having an anniversary update when nothing like that was ever said, so many people were expecting monthly updates when nothing like that was ever said and so on. And what happened when those fan-made thoughts didn't come to pass? They get irrationally angry and disappointed- there's no mystery.


tl;dr: even if Nintendo was slow with updates (they're not even with a damn pandemic going around), the expectations and demands for this game will never be achieved, no matter how much is added. I've already seen people asking for more custom design slots. The fandom own perception of what's "missing" is not shared by everyone.

obligatory disclaimer that you can be disappointed and hate and whatever this game as much as you want and that NH is not perfect

 

[Mr.Fox]

I'm finding the Animal Crossing fanbase to be greedy for the most part...I suppose you could chalk it up to their love/passion for the game?

Nintendo has already given us a ton of stuff they didn't need to give us...they could've just let us all purchase the game and leave it at that. As I also play Splatoon/MK/Pokemon/SSB/Mario titles I can also vouch for the fact that AC gets updates/new items/features far more regularly than most of the other mainstream titles.

 

[Cosmic-chan]

I don't know, considering we've gotten an update almost every month some that were twice a month, I'm not going to complain too much yet. Some of the updates were a hit some were a miss but overall this game has been updated more frequently than most multiplayer games. Animal Crossing New Leaf didn't even see an update until literally 3 years later.

 

[Moritz]

I enjoy the game a lot as it is. If they never released another update, I would still be very happy with the game. The updates are just a nice added bonus.

I hold no expectations to the updates and haven't been let down from them either. They come every couple of months and bring new stuff. I'm happy with that.

I think people need to remember that this is not a subscription game. They paid a one off fee for it. Everything that comes after that is an added bonus that they are not entitled to at all. I think more people should remember that.

Now that's not me saying that I don't want new updates to come out faster with lots more content in each one. I would love that. But I'm also accepting of the fact I'm not owed anything.

But like we got 2 updates very recently that have changed the game a lot for me. We got warp pipes and more custom designs.
These updates allowed me to change my island for the better and they came less than a month apart. We had an update January, one in February, and one in March. Thats one every month this year. That's a good rate.

So I dont think theyre too slow on the updates at all. Some people just aren't happy because the updates aren't giving them content that they have never been told they are going to get, but they want anyways.

 

[meggiewes]

I don't think that the problem isn't that the updates are coming out too slowly. I think the big problem is that we have no idea what might be coming at all. If they were more transparent and released a little 3 month road map of planned updates, then I think that would go a long way to keep people calm. Especially since New Horizons is the very first game to have a live service update model similar to Splatoon.

 

[Cosmic-chan]

The updates we have even gotten have brought things no other Animal Crossing title has
-Natural hair styles
-Cool ass eye colors
-Way more custom slots than ever before
-More storage than ever before
-Revamp of nearly all the holidays
-New skin colors
I can't even think of everything at the moment but point is some of the fans are stuck on Animal Crossing New Leaf that they can't get past that. It's starting to getting greedy. This title has been treated better than any other title.

 

[VanitasFan26]

I think people need to remember that this is not a subscription game. They paid a one off fee for it. Everything that comes after that is an added bonus that they are not entitled to at all. I think more people should remember that.

Well that's controversial considering that the online in New Horizons is not really that good. When a game has an online but it lacks a lot of modes it just makes you wonder "well is there a point to having a subscription just to visit someone's island" All you do is just shop on their island, and sure you can interact with their villagers, and of course have a fun time hanging out.

Since the dream suite came out last year I seen people say "well if I have the Dream Suite what is the point of me visiting islands?" since then many people didn't want to come to others islands, because of how long the load times are when visiting islands. I get that there is a saying when the online doesn't really offer much. Its like the Single Player has more for the player to do, but the online really lacks in that department.

Me personally I really find myself using the dream suite more often than visiting other people's islands using Dodo Airlines. Then again there are some questionable decision when the game feels like you need to have an online subscription just to do certain things like get a code for a Custom design slot or just basically trying to send a gift to your friend. Its a hot topic so yeah.

 

[Cosmic-chan]

It's also worth noting that while it seems like Nintendo doesn't hear us, they do. They gave more storage, they gave us more slots they even fixed Bunny Day when the game first came out last year. So, while it feels like Nintendo isn't hearing us, they are they're simply working on their time not our time.

Post automatically merged: Mar 28, 2021

I mean hell they may have done a crappy job of it but, they brought back the Saniro update. Nintendo is trying their best during a time of a pandemic. Please remember this guys.