Time Traveling Gatekeeping

[Lavulin98]

I think the new players hate the time travelers because they are misinformed? For some reason all my new player friends believe that time traveler=person that duped crowns. So they think they are the cheaters. Some of those friends are even afraid of going to time traveler islands in fear of their games getting *glitched* or smth similar like this.

This is all bull of course but online there is a lot of misinformation!

I don't time travel in game. But I do buy goods from people that time travel. I get my item and I'm back to my merry island doing my boring every day tasks. lol

 

[JKDOS]

constantly hearing people call TTers "cheaters" and say it's not the "right" or "fair" way to play is about as gatekeeper as you can get and at this point i'm sick of seeing it.

TBH though, if you have to go into your Switch settings, and change the system clock, lying about what time it is, in order to trick the game into thinking time has passed, to skip past game elements, such as waiting and patience, how is it not "cheating"?

I won't bully anyone for TT'ing. As long as time traveling isn't destroying the economy in this game, it doesn't affect me.

 

[MeganPenguin]

I don't see any issue with it. As long as they're having fun.
I used to TT years ago in animal crossing new leaf. One of my villagers left so I never didnit again, ahaha. But if Nintendo didn't want this happening, they would've put a way to stop it.

 

[Romaki]

Let's not pretend that time traveling is a part of the game, but that's no excuse to be rude to anyone.

 

[JKDOS]

But if Nintendo didn't want this happening, they would've put a way to stop it.

It's impossible to stop. The game uses the system clock to tell time. The only way to stop it would be to make it an always online game.

I'd rather some people get bored/impatient and time travel than to be forced to have an internet connection just to play.

 

[Zanreo]

New Horizons was the first AC game I TTed in just for early-game unlock purposes (I have occasionally changed the time in other games, but more for turning it back to holidays I missed and similar, not to speed up the beginning) - I could wait for the others, but for this game it just started too slow with too few things available and I ended up TTing a few days just to unlock town hall (from now on, though, I'm in no rush to unlock anything). I don't care how anyone else plays the game though

 

[Morningowl]

I kept debating if wanted to reply but here I am and my intention is not to come off harsh or mean(I over think written words and they don't often come off the same way as spoken words). I understand the frustration but please if you see this happening in this forum!!! Report it to the mods and take screenshots if needed.
I don't believe that making numerous threads like is helping. Here what happens someone will make a thread about someone else being rude to them about them TT then most of the responses are Are you sure this is happen in this forum community and not outside of it? Yea there no reasons/excuse to be rude even if I don't agree with tt. and then someone likely will try to make a uplifting thread in response. Then this will cycle all over again because people don't how to bump old threads surrounding tting. If you going to make thread like this need to able to back up what you saying but not shame people if you want it to work.
YES I seen people be rude to each on BOTH side of the discussion/debate of TTing. In my opinion it is the most heated topic surrounding Animal crossing so, the threads can sour very easily but like I have said before we do not need another new thread about it every couple days when one can just bump an old thread. It just get everyone riled up on BOTH sides all over again.
From my what I seen people don't change their opinion easily about TTing easily. I have seen a lot of I disagree with it but I will play with someone who does it. I have also seen people who disagree with and don't want to play with people who tt because don't support it. I know that can suck but if aren't being rude about it then it follow the line that let people play the way they want. TT is never meant to be in the game, They purposely removed change the date and time in NH and from my understanding you have to manipulate the switch itself. Devs don't support it but there no good solution without sacrificing other aspect of the game(who would want to have to connect to internet every time they play or something like that.) I may disagree with it but I understand people have their reasons to do it. I think almost everyone will agree with no need to be rude about and the flip side no need to be rude if people want to play and support the intended way of play. I think it will cool down the longer the game is out because the differences won't be as obvious.
Unfortunately every community going to have few sour apples and that sucks that you have come across rude people but I believe as a whole this community is great. Wish everyone the joy of playing(also i do understand it okay to have worries/concerns/dislike things)

 

[Rosewater]

One of my friends friends came down hard on him for TTing and told him his island is invalid to them because he TT'd because his work schedule doesn't permit him from playing regularly and TTing actually allowed him to enjoy the days he's missed.

Wow :/ so much for being a friend. I feel bad that that happened to him especially since the TTing is work schedule related too. That's really harsh of his friend to say those things. I am sorry, OP!

 

[Katie97]

I prefer to visit other towns and trade with people that haven't TT'd but I have no harsh feelings towards them. Obviously, the game doesn't encourage TT and that isn't the way it is supposed to be played but people can do what makes them happy. It's their game and it doesn't affect me.

 

[Chicken Tender]

TBH though, if you have to go into your Switch settings, and change the system clock, lying about what time it is, in order to trick the game into thinking time has passed, to skip past game elements, such as waiting and patience, how is it not "cheating"?

I won't bully anyone for TT'ing. As long as time traveling isn't destroying the economy in this game, it doesn't affect me.

because it literally does not affect ANYONE'S GAME BUT YOUR OWN.
there is no leader board, no competition, no ranking in this game.
THERE IS NO WAY TO CHEAT.
how about you just let people enjoy the game how they chose to do so without trying to bring them down?

 

[ForbiddenSecrets]

I'm going to start with saying people can play however they want.

My personal view however is that TT to bypass time gated things (like getting your bridge built) or fit into your personal schedule and TT to abuse the bank interest to get rich quick are different. While it does change how I view someone's 'accomplishment' in the game I also just don't... care? I'm hardly going to scold someone for it or even comment because at the end of the day it's just a silly little game with animal friends.

 

[RandomSanity]

While i accept time travelers and don't generally have a problem with people doing so, I do also understand why they would be regarded poorly by non time travelers.

This game has a very active online community and by time traveling you generally destroy the economy for those players who do not time travel. While a normal player will take a few months to get into new seasons and find a wide variety of goods, a time traveler can find these all within a couple of days. Therefore by the time a non time traveler gets a rare item, it's no longer rare and has been devalued.

I'm generally a solo player, in New Leaf I don't believe I ever went online, while in New Horizons I've been making an effort to be active in the online community.

 

[Draco]

Some of the friendlest i have met in AC have been TT'ers ,wile i don't tt , who am I to judge they paid there 60 $. Play as you like.

 

[Paradise]

What does gatekeeping mean

 

[stiney]

Compare it with any "battle passes" nowadays, a dopamine-filled mechanic where you are forced to play the game, otherwise you're missing out. You are "obliged" now to play the game, otherwise you won't get all your "prizes" and get best returns. Most people burn out from these kinds of monetary systems, as they will lay down their game and won't play for a while. Your first time travel would be comparable to a purchase of this "battle pass". It felt so nice that your shop, bridge, incline is being built and that you get all of those npc events earlier, you probably will not stop after the first one.

Of course, I made a lot of assumptions, but I know who I am, and I know that if there's nothing left to do in this game, I won't be playing it anymore, 'cuz I've seen it all.

I actually think not time traveling is more like the battle passes, getting worn out thing for me. If it wasn't for quarantine, I wouldn't have time to play every day and I'd feel like I was missing out on things and super pressured to log in so I didn't. In New Leaf, I used time traveling so that when I had time, I could jump back to the day after my last play date and not miss anything--as soon as I was done with a day, I'd jump forward. Even then I still stopped playing for a long time because I was working a part-time job (teaching assistant) on top of my full time job at a startup, and I had a side hustle copyediting papers for an old boss, so I just had too much going on in my life and video games had to fall to the wayside.

Sure, some TTers jump *ahead* but not everyone who does is trying to get things faster.

- - - Post Merge - - -

What does gatekeeping mean

It's setting and maintaining (often arbitrary) rules about a community and who qualifies as belonging. Who can pass the gate and belong to the group, and who is left outside the fence/walls.

One example is how a subset of video game players will challenge women and girls on their right to call themselves gamers. They might denigrate the games the woman plays as not being "real" games because they're not "hardcore" enough. They might challenge the girl on what she knows about games to "prove" she's not a "real gamer." ("Oh, yeah, if you're such a big fan of World of Warcraft, then what's the lore behind the Lich King and what games was it established in!")

When I was in middle school, in New Jersey mind you, just outside of New York City, the Yankees were at the beginning of their 1990s dynasty. (Yeah, I'm an old, lol.) If I said I was a Yankees fan, guys would say things like "You only like the Yankees because you think Derek Jeter is hot." That's gatekeeping--it's saying I wasn't a real fan because I wasn't a fan for the "right" reasons. Meanwhile, I did not (and do not) think he's hot though he was a helluva player, and my "bona fides" as a fan would definitely have qualified me as a fan per their rules. I should not have had to to justify my liking of the Yankees with those other reasons--it should've been enough that I said "yeah, I'm a fan!" Guys might also gatekeep other guys, especially for a team like the Yankees, by calling other fans band wagoners ("you only like them because they're popular. I'm a real fan, I liked them before they were cool/good/whatever."). It's also kind of a dick move. It's fun to be a part of something like that--in 2004, I went out to Kenmore Square when the Red Sox beat the Yankees in the ALCS, since I lived two blocks away. (I actually met up with a fellow Yankees fan and we commiserated, and then we left when the police with riot gear started turning out. It was still cool to be part of such an excited, happy crowd, even if I was sad about my team's collapse.)

("Bona fides": Dad used to take me to Yankees games in the 80s/early 90s when they SUUUUUCKED. I had a Steve Sax poster on my wall. Both my parents were Yankees fans. My dad's dad and mom's dad were both Yankees fans. My mom's dad grew up in the Bronx. He used to sneak into Yankee Stadium to watch Babe Ruth play. Etc.)

 

[mystery]

For single player I agree 100% though I do think sharing what comes from time travel can spoil things for people at least early on and I do find myself less interested in things people obtained through time travelling.

 

[skogkyst]

I view Time Traveling as a form of cheating in the game. That's not meant to have a negative connotation necessarily, it's just manipulating the game to play it differently from how it was intended, kind of in the same manner as using an Action Replay. I'm not judging those who TT, I used to do it past games and I have used Action Replay and related software in the past. To sum it up I have no beef with Time Travelers, but I understand why some "purists" feel that it's not the right way to play (even though they shouldn't have a say in how others play their games).

I will say though that I see more people complaining about people being anti-TT then I see people complaining about TT.

 

[Mairen]

I agree that bullying time travelers isn't the way to go about it, but I again have to ask. Why another topic here about it? Where on these forums are people being persecuted for time travelling? The admins take care of these issues sufficiently. Making topics like these really do just stir up trouble. It's fine to want to have a discussion about the debate of time traveling pros and cons (where BOTH sides are open to fair opinions/points from each other), but this seems a bit accusatory towards a community (belltree) that has committed no crime.

I will add my own thoughts about this whole thing. Yes, people out in the world can be harsh towards time travelling, but with social media a huge point of people's lives at this point, it can be really easy for time travelers to be posting up parts of the game that natural players haven't reached yet. Time travelling can also negatively impact economies when they are posting up items for sale that half of the population (or more?) doesn't even have access to yet. People are absolutely free to play their games the way they want, but when other people are being effected by your style of play, you have to consider how that's going to impact their own game experience. It really goes both ways.

And in regards to the original post, from what I read, that guy just said he doesn't acknowledge your friend's town as a valid town. He's... actually allowed to say that. That's his opinion. Saying he doesn't think your friend's town is valid is within his right. Unless it was worded differently, that's really not that harsh. As time travelers, you guys should acknowledge that some people aren't going to want anything to do with your towns because of your style of play. That in no way means anyone is bullying you for it. He simply doesn't want to visit your friends town, and that's all. By time travelling you have to acknowledge that not everyone is going to agree with your style of play. Not agreeing with how you play doesn't necessarily mean bullying. We can disagree without hating you.

 

[Jhin]

You can play how you like. Why do we need a thread like this every other day? I've been seeing way more people complaining about 'anti-TTers' more than actual anti-TTers themselves anyway...

 

[Spooky.]

Yeah, I've seen so much hate for TT when I recall in New Leaf, more people than not seemed to do it.

Personally I'm not doing it myself at the time because I feel like TT will make the game 'end' too soon, and being stuck at home due to a lay off I don't want the game to finish for me too quickly, but if not, I may have considered it.

I think people really need to worry about their own game instead of giving people a hard time for how they play.