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OK I skimmed through the article and I can't say I much care for it. To me Animal Crossing is a game that you play over many months to sometimes relax doing so

OK I skimmed through the article and I can't say I much care for it. To me Animal Crossing is a game that you play over many months to sometimes relax doing something mindless or over the longer term to have an island and house that you slowly build up in your own way. With that in mind there are a lot of great things in animal crossing. A lot of the furniture has interesting interactions and the museum is just a beautiful thing to walk through. But I also feel that some aspects of the game needs tweaking as they detract from the gameplay. There's no reason I should have to craft fishbait one by one, mindlessly spamming A for minutes at a time. Nor does shopping have to be as tedious as it is. There is no reason I should have to buy flowers in batches of 5 taking 5+ seconds per batch. I want to plant a massive flower patch not navigate overly deep menus. The lest said about the online play the better. I think the author is trying to find meaning where there really isn't any. At its core Animal Crossing is shallow, but in some sense that lack of depth is the appeal. What it has is a shocking breadth though giving each player lots of options to express themselves or simply to while away a few peaceful hours. It's not for everyone and it doesn't have to be.

wincy 6y ago
My five year old daughter has a villager and decorates her house. I think the enhancements that would make the game easier for adults would make it harder for young children to grasp. She doesn’t accidentally buy 500 stacks of flowers then cry because her bells are gone.
- kosievdmerwe 6y ago
  Good point, still makes no difference with regards to bait crafting, but at least it's a good reason for the shop not having free-form shopping.
- billfruit 6y ago
  In that respect I think Stardew Valley has included much more complex and compelling mechanics, as it seems designed foremost to appeal to adults. I thant is where it really shines over Animal Crossing.
  - slightwinder 6y ago
    Stardew Valley is also a different kind of game. It's a Farming Simulator, while Animal Crossing is usually called a Life Simulator. They both do kinda similar thing, but with very different focus. In AC you collect stuff and arange/design stuff. And you also build stuff, for collecting and arranging stuff. In SV you Farm, literally, and you plan how you farm the most efficiently way. You even have a energy-system and limited time, and have permanent pressure to do things now and not later. You can do build things, but AFAIK only for farming. Both also have other mechanisms, often the same as in the respectively other game, but in some significant lesser complexity.
    - Loughla 6y ago
      >have permanent pressure to do things now and not later. I have not played SV, but I have been a farmer. I find it fascinating that the game makers managed to get that mechanic into the game, because that is 100% farming. "When it's time to make hay, make hay" is a saying you hear almost every day as a full time farmer. If you don't get it done today, it may rain tomorrow and then everything will be ruined, is the sentiment there. I don't know that there's anything else to this, or that it's really that interesting. But I find it interesting that game creators, who I assume were never farmers, would work that into a game that seems to focus on farming. The stereotype of a farmer, from what I can tell post-farm life, is to be laid back and sort of let life happen around them.
bschwindHN 6y ago
> The lest said about the online play the better. Heh, Nintendo is simply incapable or unwilling to produce a quality online experience. I don't know why. They created a masterpiece with Smash Ultimate but then did a huge disservice to themselves and the game by slapping on a really shitty online mode. Obviously it doesn't impact sales and that's likely what drives their decisions, but it's still so disappointing.
- Polylactic_acid 6y ago
  I wonder why they always put so little effort in. I know at least part of the reason is that nintendo wants to make an entirely child friendly experience which usually involves leaving as little player to player interaction as possible.
  - kosievdmerwe 6y ago
    AC's online experience sucks in large part because Nintendo is paranoid about item duping. This leads to things like everyone needing to pause their gameplay so the save states can be in sync when someone visits and worse rolling back the state of the world if someone disconnects due to bad internet or their console going sleep due to inactivity. Given the nature of the game I don't understand why they didn't prioritize fun over protecting against duping. That's nevermind the fact that two friends can't do stuff like terraform or furnish an island together.
    - kd5bjo 6y ago
      > I don't understand why they didn't prioritize fun over protecting against duping I suspect they may be aiming for long-term fun over instant gratification. Hard to get items will inevitably have a story attached of how they were a acquired. That means asking about some new thing you see when visiting a friend will get them telling that story. If Nintendo can keep these stories interesting, it’s a compelling reason for people to keep visiting friends in-game. On the other hand, if item duplication is possible, that destroys rarity, and most items will have no meaningful history to speak of.
Cthulhu_ 6y ago
While I tend to agree that some mechanics like you describe them are tedious, at the same time I can't help but feel like you play it to min/max it, to get as much done as fast as possible. But there's space for games that are all about just taking your time. I mean I spent a lot of time in Runescape, hours upon hours spent clicking on the water to fish, or running between the same five rocks together with some other players to mine and slowly watch that mining level number go up. Then there's MMO's that if you look at it for a minute it can be really intense and visually interesting, but when you zoom out it turns I've run this same dungeon dozens of times already just to get a hundred or so tokens, of which I need 800-or-so to buy a piece of equipment that raises my stats by a few points.
- kosievdmerwe 6y ago
  I don't quite agree with this. In the example of crafting fishbait, there are two sides to it one is collecting the Manilla clams and the other is crafting them into fishbait. Both are done one-by-one. Arguably collecting the clams is much much more time consuming, and it's always been something I'm fine with. It's engaging running around digging the claims up. Crafting them literally is just me spamming A for minutes at the time. It makes me watch a YouTube video instead of engaging with the game. When you need multiples to even have fishbait have a point, then I feel it detracts from the game. I literally can't think of an experience (min max or no) that is enhanced by the crafting tedium. It would be different if crafting involved some care and attention like say Fantasy Life. My problem isn't the time wasting it's the fact that the way the time is wasted is not engaging at all. When I think about that minutes of crafting, I don't even want to spend the hour collecting clams and the hour fishing a certain spot for that rare fish I'm missing.
madeofpalk 6y ago
> the museum is just a beautiful thing to walk through. I find it really difficulty to explain just how much I am impressed with the Museum. It's so meticulously designed, and so calming. The level of detail that went into it so so impressive - each bug, fish, or fossil has their place and path. Little cute nooks and places to take pics in. It's really cool.
- trowawee 6y ago
  I actually turned the game on and parked my avatar in front of the anchovy tank for most of the morning every day this week while I worked from the couch. It's incredibly soothing.

wincy 6y ago

My five year old daughter has a villager and decorates her house. I think the enhancements that would make the game easier for adults would make it harder for young children to grasp. She doesn’t accidentally buy 500 stacks of flowers then cry because her bells are gone.

kosievdmerwe 6y ago
Good point, still makes no difference with regards to bait crafting, but at least it's a good reason for the shop not having free-form shopping.
billfruit 6y ago
In that respect I think Stardew Valley has included much more complex and compelling mechanics, as it seems designed foremost to appeal to adults. I thant is where it really shines over Animal Crossing.
- slightwinder 6y ago
  Stardew Valley is also a different kind of game. It's a Farming Simulator, while Animal Crossing is usually called a Life Simulator. They both do kinda similar thing, but with very different focus. In AC you collect stuff and arange/design stuff. And you also build stuff, for collecting and arranging stuff. In SV you Farm, literally, and you plan how you farm the most efficiently way. You even have a energy-system and limited time, and have permanent pressure to do things now and not later. You can do build things, but AFAIK only for farming. Both also have other mechanisms, often the same as in the respectively other game, but in some significant lesser complexity.
  - Loughla 6y ago
    >have permanent pressure to do things now and not later. I have not played SV, but I have been a farmer. I find it fascinating that the game makers managed to get that mechanic into the game, because that is 100% farming. "When it's time to make hay, make hay" is a saying you hear almost every day as a full time farmer. If you don't get it done today, it may rain tomorrow and then everything will be ruined, is the sentiment there. I don't know that there's anything else to this, or that it's really that interesting. But I find it interesting that game creators, who I assume were never farmers, would work that into a game that seems to focus on farming. The stereotype of a farmer, from what I can tell post-farm life, is to be laid back and sort of let life happen around them.

bschwindHN 6y ago

> The lest said about the online play the better. Heh, Nintendo is simply incapable or unwilling to produce a quality online experience. I don't know why. They created a masterpiece with Smash Ultimate but then did a huge disservice to themselves and the game by slapping on a really shitty online mode. Obviously it doesn't impact sales and that's likely what drives their decisions, but it's still so disappointing.

Polylactic_acid 6y ago
I wonder why they always put so little effort in. I know at least part of the reason is that nintendo wants to make an entirely child friendly experience which usually involves leaving as little player to player interaction as possible.
- kosievdmerwe 6y ago
  AC's online experience sucks in large part because Nintendo is paranoid about item duping. This leads to things like everyone needing to pause their gameplay so the save states can be in sync when someone visits and worse rolling back the state of the world if someone disconnects due to bad internet or their console going sleep due to inactivity. Given the nature of the game I don't understand why they didn't prioritize fun over protecting against duping. That's nevermind the fact that two friends can't do stuff like terraform or furnish an island together.
  - kd5bjo 6y ago
    > I don't understand why they didn't prioritize fun over protecting against duping I suspect they may be aiming for long-term fun over instant gratification. Hard to get items will inevitably have a story attached of how they were a acquired. That means asking about some new thing you see when visiting a friend will get them telling that story. If Nintendo can keep these stories interesting, it’s a compelling reason for people to keep visiting friends in-game. On the other hand, if item duplication is possible, that destroys rarity, and most items will have no meaningful history to speak of.

Cthulhu_ 6y ago

While I tend to agree that some mechanics like you describe them are tedious, at the same time I can't help but feel like you play it to min/max it, to get as much done as fast as possible. But there's space for games that are all about just taking your time. I mean I spent a lot of time in Runescape, hours upon hours spent clicking on the water to fish, or running between the same five rocks together with some other players to mine and slowly watch that mining level number go up. Then there's MMO's that if you look at it for a minute it can be really intense and visually interesting, but when you zoom out it turns I've run this same dungeon dozens of times already just to get a hundred or so tokens, of which I need 800-or-so to buy a piece of equipment that raises my stats by a few points.

kosievdmerwe 6y ago
I don't quite agree with this. In the example of crafting fishbait, there are two sides to it one is collecting the Manilla clams and the other is crafting them into fishbait. Both are done one-by-one. Arguably collecting the clams is much much more time consuming, and it's always been something I'm fine with. It's engaging running around digging the claims up. Crafting them literally is just me spamming A for minutes at the time. It makes me watch a YouTube video instead of engaging with the game. When you need multiples to even have fishbait have a point, then I feel it detracts from the game. I literally can't think of an experience (min max or no) that is enhanced by the crafting tedium. It would be different if crafting involved some care and attention like say Fantasy Life. My problem isn't the time wasting it's the fact that the way the time is wasted is not engaging at all. When I think about that minutes of crafting, I don't even want to spend the hour collecting clams and the hour fishing a certain spot for that rare fish I'm missing.

madeofpalk 6y ago

> the museum is just a beautiful thing to walk through. I find it really difficulty to explain just how much I am impressed with the Museum. It's so meticulously designed, and so calming. The level of detail that went into it so so impressive - each bug, fish, or fossil has their place and path. Little cute nooks and places to take pics in. It's really cool.

trowawee 6y ago
I actually turned the game on and parked my avatar in front of the anchovy tank for most of the morning every day this week while I worked from the couch. It's incredibly soothing.