What’s Your Thoughts On Gatekeeping?

I just honestly don’t get why people are so invested in how someone else is playing their game. Like unless they’re being nasty to others/scamming folks just move on. Like, I’m pretty against TT for myself but if you wanna go to 2025 to get your dream island, do it! How I play my game shouldn’t impact how anyone else plays theirs and vice versa.
 
I personally think that everyone should play the game however they want, they payed the 60 dollars for it. I personally have had people try to gate keep me out of playing because I started playing New Leaf first instead of Wild World. In total, as long as people are enjoying themselves they can do whatever they want, time travel and etc is totally okay in my opinion!
 
Can someone give an example of the gatekeeping with regards to AC? Is it just the time traveling thing or are there more examples? I haven't paid attention to it so I'm just curious (and want to make sure I never participate in it).
 
Whoops sorry I should have been more clear!

What I meant is that Animal Crossing was one of the first widespread games to be played in real time. At the time there were games similar to AC such as The Sims, or Harvest Moon but the gimmick of AC was that it was a simulation game running on real time.

I didn’t mean to insinuate that time traveling is something the creators don’t want us to do. I was just saying that the creators had this cool idea where your fake town could experience real time.

Sorry for misunderstanding! You're definitely right. The game was created for lonely people missing their families/homes right? I do think they initially intended for people to be able to change their timezone so that they could feel connected to people who are far away. But you're definitely not supposed to play it like Sims or Harvest Moon, time traveling definitely "ruins" that purpose or message of the game.

Thinking about it, they probably could have prevented time traveling if they wanted to. There must be games on the Switch that only allow you to play the game if your time matches the time of the internet, so it's nice that rather than removing that aspect they limit the possibilites and help people not spoil their experience by getting too much at once. I really wonder if the monthly updates changes the opinion of constant time travelers.
 
As a long term member here who’s been active since 2014, can I just say: we’re not normally like this.

One of the reasons I’ve always loved this place is because, unlike other places in the internet, (I’m looking at you twitter and tumblr) everybody here is super chill and kind! Yes, we’ve had our fair share of drama here and there, but lately some of the NH boards are getting downright toxic just like everywhere else, and it honestly makes me kind of sad.

I think that’s because ACNH is mainstream right now and we have a ton of new members coming in from the aforementioned twitter and tumblr, and they’re bringing the drama with them. And, like we discussed earlier, a lot of them are young and don’t understand the art of civil discourse just yet.

I guarantee that it’ll die down once the hype blows over. But for now, i just try not to read the “drama” posts and stick to my online trading and chilling with my friends. ✌
 
In my personal experience, gatekeeping has also occurred with how long you've been in the community. I've run into some people who said that I shouldn't be playing because I'm not an "OG" and things along those lines.
 
Can someone give an example of the gatekeeping with regards to AC? Is it just the time traveling thing or are there more examples? I haven't paid attention to it so I'm just curious (and want to make sure I never participate in it).

It basically boils down to "purist" gameplay, and people can go really crazy about it in many different ways. Some people think you don't deserve the game for time traveling, some think you don't for buying stuff off of eBay. I'm sure there are people out there who think that trading is taking the easy way as well. And there were also people who have been vocal about the self-made tarantula island being a shady trick.

This forum hasn't been as extreme when it comes to "wanting to punish other players", but I've seen people on Twitter saying you don't deserve the game for doing this and that. I think the best course of action is to not insult other people for playing their game any type of way as long as it doesn't negatively impact other players. Like a real issue is glitched items ruining save files, but we're not really sure of anything.
 
I really don't care how others play this game. It's non-competitive. If you want to TT or not TT, that's your own business. I've found people here are generally really nice about it too. I don't TT, but everyone I've traded with and had to order stuff for has been willing to wait until the next day for me to get their items. Even if that person might TT themselves. I had to point that out, because in certain ways, the TTers almost have more respect for the non-TTers, than some non-TTers have the other way around.

The only things that bother me about NH is some aspects of the online economy. But, at least here on Bell Tree, it's not actually that hard to find very kind and generous people who are willing to give out things for free or equal trades or, if there's a profit there, it's reasonable. I have not actually spent a single NMT to buy anything yet, and I've gotten all kinds of goodies. There's a lot of people here providing services for free or very small optional tips. And, funny enough, that kindness actually makes me feel way more generous than I would otherwise. I make sure to tip everyone who has free services. :)
 
As a long term member here who’s been active since 2014, can I just say: we’re not normally like this.

One of the reasons I’ve always loved this place is because, unlike other places in the internet, (I’m looking at you twitter and tumblr) everybody here is super chill and kind! Yes, we’ve had our fair share of drama here and there, but lately some of the NH boards are getting downright toxic just like everywhere else, and it honestly makes me kind of sad.

I think that’s because ACNH is mainstream right now and we have a ton of new members coming in from the aforementioned twitter and tumblr, and they’re bringing the drama with them. And, like we discussed earlier, a lot of them are young and don’t understand the art of civil discourse just yet.

I guarantee that it’ll die down once the hype blows over. But for now, i just try not to read the “drama” posts and stick to my online trading and chilling with my friends. ✌

I was just having this very conversation with a friend! How I've been feeling a bit sad to see this usually quiet and happy place being filled with a lot more tension and drama. Knowing someone else has been noticing it too actually made me feel a lot better.
 
The hard TTing and popular villagers like Raymond gets is ridiculous. I believe it’s because a lot of people are new to the franchise and have a lot of time on their hands.
 
I have hard time to reply as I can’t imagine Animal Crossing and gatekeeping in the same sentence. What is there to even gatekeep? In Animal Crossing of all this? In general my opinion on gatekeeping of any kind: stupid and futile.
 
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I'm not saying that gatekeeping isn't present here at all, but I feel proud to be part of the community on The Bell Tree where, in general, everyone is very nice!

I tend to see most gatekeeping and toxicity coming from facebook, instagram and reddit - I don't know what it is about those sites but I feel like maybe because they're the first places people think to go, it attracts more people who are more interested in putting down others than enjoying the game itself.

There's no right or wrong way to play the game and bullying or excluding players who want to play in a different way to you is stupid. As a game made for children, I'd say it's much more childish within the maturer community.
 
I was just having this very conversation with a friend! How I've been feeling a bit sad to see this usually quiet and happy place being filled with a lot more tension and drama. Knowing someone else has been noticing it too actually made me feel a lot better.
agreed! i used to be very active and everybody was so nice.
 
It used to be a game mechanic, but Nintendo definitely turned against it with the addition of online multiplayer. I think they don't prohibit it because they couldn't possibly prevent it without getting rid of the real time system. It'll take time before consoles can detect stuff like that.
I don't recall it ever being a game mechanic. What is a game mechanic is the real time system. Changing the consoles internal clock to manipulate the in-game clock isn't a game mechanic.

What is an example of a game mechanic directly linked to changing the console's internal clock is the alternate way to kill a boss in Metal Gear Solid 3, by advancing the console's internal clock to make the boss die of old age (with a special cutscene to show that and everything).

Just pointing out the difference between a coded in-game mechanic and exploiting another game mechanic and calling that a mechanic itself.
 
regarding new players, I do feel like a few new players got caught up in the hype and got the game not really knowing what they were getting into. for example, I've seen people complaining about having to pick items off the floor one at a time and having to press Y every time, and I feel like that's a complaint that no one who's played an AC game before would have (but maybe I'm wrong?). but that's not really their fault, I think many veterans could have been a little more clear when trying to recommend the game (for example, people often compare AC to Stardew Valley, and while there's a huge overlap in fans of both series, Stardew Valley is a game where you can make progress for hours and hours on end whereas AC isn't really meant for that unless you time travel).

also, unpopular opinion (I think) but at least here and on reddit there's way more people complaining about anti-TT's than people talking negatively about time traveling. like, I almost never see people bashing time travelers, but I see the "I paid $60, I can play however I want!" argument every day. like, we get it. let the argument die down already. and I'm someone who time travels heavily, for what it's worth.
 
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I don't recall it ever being a game mechanic. What is a game mechanic is the real time system. Changing the consoles internal clock to manipulate the in-game clock isn't a game mechanic.

What is an example of a game mechanic directly linked to changing the console's internal clock is the alternate way to kill a boss in Metal Gear Solid 3, by advancing the console's internal clock to make the boss die of old age (with a special cutscene to show that and everything).

Just pointing out the difference between a coded in-game mechanic and exploiting another game mechanic and calling that a mechanic itself.
That's actually so cool, I never knew that!
 
In philosophy you learn that tolerance can’t exist. It’s a fallacy. It goes like this:
- I am tolerant person.
- I believe everyone should be accepted.
- For this to happen, everyone must also be tolerant.
- Person X is not a tolerant person.
- I cannot accept Person X.
- Therefore, I have become intolerant of Person X’s ideas.

So the tolerant become intolerant of those they perceive to be intolerant.

This is what’s running through my mind as I’m reading this discussion on gatekeeping. By throwing the opinion, “gatekeepers are ruining AC and TBT” you are gatekeeping the gatekeepers.

We know why they are gatekeeping. They do it because something is lacking in their life. Whether it is because they are young or because they have been hurt by others or something else... they don’t deserve to be treated the way they treat us.

If you were a gatekeeper, what words or acts would cause you to see the nova light and change? It is likely not a thread bashing gatekeeping that will change you. I’m not sure what the answer is - maybe going out of our way to be kind and help them? To show them the AC community so they can learn and aspire to partake? I’m not sure!
 
I don't recall it ever being a game mechanic. What is a game mechanic is the real time system. Changing the consoles internal clock to manipulate the in-game clock isn't a game mechanic.


Like I said, we used to have a phone in our house where we could call and change the time inside the game while your save file was already loaded. 😊

I guess the mechanic is more about changing your timezone, but it is still technically considered time traveling.
 
as someone whos been playing since city folk for wii, i think the time-travel gatekeeping comes from a very select group of newer players (not all of them of course)
this was absolutely not a widespread discussion about new leaf, time-travelling didnt matter to anyone in that game. definitely no-one was getting called slurs on twitter for it : (
 
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