Animal Crossing: New Horizons

[Aneres11]

Now I can change cliffs and water along with adding paths, the game has become a whole new challenge and approach for me and I’m absolutely loving it. 
 

I don’t think I’ve played a game that rewards creative thinking in ages. It’s going to take hours and hours for me to start getting my island in some sort of tidy order, but I almost feel like the real game has begun now. 
 

[Ronnie]

10 minutes ago, Hero-of-Time said:

Selling bugs is a fantastic way to rake in bells, at least it was. It's what helped me pay for my island upgrades early on. If you were willing to put in the time you could make a hefty profit. Lots of AC players do it, which is why the datamined info seems to have been confirmed so fast.

Considering you only need 1 bug for the museum, I can't think of any other reason for reducing bug spawn rates other than to slow down bell grinding.

Sure, early on it was useful to make lots of money when there wasn't many alternative strategies but in the endgame, not really, not when you can make millions with turnips in no time at all vs hundreds of hours of grinding bugs. Maybe that's why they reduced them, they figured early on people need money but now they've made them a tad more rare (I genuinely haven't noticed, I could have easily said they increased them). And you might only need 1 for the museum but reducing the spawn count means the rarer ones become rarer. Getting the balance right for games like this is obviously tricky.

Edited April 24, 2020 by Ronnie

[Grazza]

10 minutes ago, Hero-of-Time said:

Selling bugs is a fantastic way to rake in bells, at least it was. It's what helped me pay for my island upgrades early on. If you were willing to put in the time you could make a hefty profit. Lots of AC players do it, which is why the datamined info seems to have been confirmed so fast.

Considering you only need 1 bug for the museum, I can't think of any other reason for reducing bug spawn rates other than to slow down bell grinding.

 

Yeah, with fish and bugs, I try to get five:

 

• 1 for the museum
• 1 for my house (if it's a favourite)
• 3 for a model

 

...And then sell the rest.  Selling the valuable ones has been my main source of income, as I don't play online.  I used to have loads of Peacock Butterflies around my blue flowers, but haven't seen any today.  Since the update, it really feels like they're specifically keeping the more valuable ones away from us.

[Ronnie]

4 minutes ago, Aneres11 said:

Now I can change cliffs and water along with adding paths, the game has become a whole new challenge and approach for me and I’m absolutely loving it. 
 

I don’t think I’ve played a game that rewards creative thinking in ages. It’s going to take hours and hours for me to start getting my island in some sort of tidy order, but I almost feel like the real game has begun now. 
 

It's fantastic, I absolutely adore this game. Even a month after release I'm still excited to dive in every day, and I'm taking it slow, haven't touched half my island yet.

[Hero-of-Time]

1 minute ago, Ronnie said:

Sure, early on it was useful to make lots of money when there wasn't many alternative strategies but in the endgame, not really, not when you can make millions with turnips in no time at all vs hundreds of hours of grinding bugs. Maybe that's why they reduced them, they figured early on people need money but now they've made them a tad more rare (I genuinely haven't noticed, I could have easily said they increased them). And you might only need 1 for the museum but reducing the spawn count means the rarer ones become rarer. Getting the balance right for games like this is obviously tricky.

What about those who've yet to start the game? Surely bells will now be harder to earn for new players now that the rarer bugs can't be farmed as much. 

I think rather than reducing the rates of the spawn they should could have just lowered the amount they sold for. Peacock butterflies and the pink mantis (can't remember what they are called) were the most common bugs to farm due to their selling price and the frequence of their spawn. They go for over 2000 bells each and this could have be reduced.

Actually that his just made me think of another point. I specifically planted lots of white flowers around the island purely to attract that certain mantis. I may as well not have bothered and just went with another colour instead.  

[Hero-of-Time]

6 minutes ago, Grazza said:

 

Yeah, with fish and bugs, I try to get five:

 

• 1 for the museum
• 1 for my house (if it's a favourite)
• 3 for a model

 

...And then sell the rest.  Selling the valuable ones has been my main source of income, as I don't play online.  I used to have loads of Peacock Butterflies around my blue flowers, but haven't seen any today.  Since the update, it really feels like they're specifically keeping the more valuable ones away from us.

Yeah, it's the lack of peacock butterflies that has been noticeable by most. I have a patch of hybrids that attracted lots of them and it was a nice little grinding spot that I used to pay for any items that the stores were selling, rather than dip into my savings.

[Ronnie]

42 minutes ago, Hero-of-Time said:

What about those who've yet to start the game? Surely bells will now be harder to earn for new players now that the rarer bugs can't be farmed as much. 

I think rather than reducing the rates of the spawn they should could have just lowered the amount they sold for. Peacock butterflies and the pink mantis (can't remember what they are called) were the most common bugs to farm due to their selling price and the frequence of their spawn. They go for over 2000 bells each and this could have be reduced.

Actually that his just made me think of another point. I specifically planted lots of white flowers around the island purely to attract that certain mantis. I may as well not have bothered and just went with another colour instead.  

Like I said, it's a tricky balance to strike. I'll trust game designers who have access to all the data, over our opinions. I haven't been short of money at all. In fact, quite the opposite, I have more money than I know what to do with. Balance changes happen all over gaming, both digital and tabletop, they're a good thing for the health of a game long term. I'd like to think most game designers know what they're doing, especially Nintendo EPD. It's not a middle finger, it's them trying to improve the long term health of their wildly popular game.

Edited April 24, 2020 by Ronnie

[nekunando]

 

[Glen-i]

Did somebody say Beardo? I've got him on my Island. Anyway, good to know that @drahkon is too cheap to buy 500 bell medicine for his neighbour.

How has that bear got brown chest hair when he has blue fur everywhere else? It's Bowser's green face, yellow body all over again.

At least his house is pretty swank.

[drahkon]

1 minute ago, Glen-i said:

Anyway, good to know that @drahkon is too cheap to buy 500 bell medicine for his neighbour.

Hey, I only got 12 million bells saved up and now that the interest rate has been reduced...money's tight.

[Aneres11]

9 hours ago, Tales said:

Sound like a garden bench. I'll send you two. You can customize them for different colours.

Could I get a table and couple of the chairs in return maybe.

Hey thanks for the benches. I loaded my game up just now and they were there? Thought it’d be tomorrow. Anyway they’re perfect, thanks! 
 

sent you a table and one chair. Can only do two letters a day apparently so the other chair will have to be tomorrow. Unfortunately I can’t gift it from Resident Services. It’s not a purchasable item (presumably because it’s crafted) so will send the other chair in morning. 

[Ashley]

4 hours ago, Hero-of-Time said:

What about those who've yet to start the game? Surely bells will now be harder to earn for new players now that the rarer bugs can't be farmed as much. 

I think rather than reducing the rates of the spawn they should could have just lowered the amount they sold for. Peacock butterflies and the pink mantis (can't remember what they are called) were the most common bugs to farm due to their selling price and the frequence of their spawn. They go for over 2000 bells each and this could have be reduced.

Actually that his just made me think of another point. I specifically planted lots of white flowers around the island purely to attract that certain mantis. I may as well not have bothered and just went with another colour instead.  

Hell they could scale it within the game based on how many you've sold in the past. They love adding lines of dialogue to get in the way of what you want so that would be a good excuse for another; "oh you've already sold us loads of these so we'll reduce the price to x". And they either you could go elsewhere to sell them or it follows with you.  Not going down constantly, but just bump it down a bit if they think that's going to balance things.

[Mr-Paul]

3 hours ago, Ronnie said:

Like I said, it's a tricky balance to strike. I'll trust game designers who have access to all the data, over our opinions. I haven't been short of money at all. In fact, quite the opposite, I have more money than I know what to do with. Balance changes happen all over gaming, both digital and tabletop, they're a good thing for the health of a game long term. I'd like to think most game designers know what they're doing, especially Nintendo EPD. It's not a middle finger, it's them trying to improve the long term health of their wildly popular game.

The thing is, I don't see the point of adjusting 'balance' for a game that's non-competitive in its nature. The availability of insects wasn't ruining anyone's enjoyment of the game or making it unfair, so why is there a need to adjust it?

Anecdotally myself, I haven't really noticed it, but I'm not a big bug-catcher when playing this anyway. But if what people are saying is true, it annoys me slightly if things are rarer and it makes it harder to fill my collection!

And on the bank interest thing, it's such an insignificant amount each month in the grand scheme of things, why did it need reducing more? And if it is because of time travellers, why not find a way to stop time-travelling rather than ruining it further for those who aren't exploiting the game?

[Ronnie]

25 minutes ago, Mr-Paul said:

The thing is, I don't see the point of adjusting 'balance' for a game that's non-competitive in its nature. The availability of insects wasn't ruining anyone's enjoyment of the game or making it unfair, so why is there a need to adjust it?

Balance changes in games like this don't have to just be for competitive reasons. Imagine if they gave you 1 million bells every morning, people wouldn't bother catching the same bugs over and over because they wouldn't need money. Or if they made every piece of furniture available from a catalog, finding or crafting stuff would lose all purpose. Those are extreme examples obviously but the point is there's a balance in game design that's done behind the scenes to ensure the longevity of a game. They're not doing it to try and sell us microtransactions so I've a hard time getting annoyed by it.

[Sheikah]

I don't think they're reducing bugs to reduce profit, I can't imagine anyone selling bugs looking to rake in the bells. To be honest if anything I was going to say it feels like they've increased bug count. I'm seeing them every few steps!

Diana just told me she wants to move out, so likewise if anyone wants her let me know. Wonder if they've implemented villagers wanting to move globally at the same time so that people trade.

Catching bugs is the second best way to make money and the first best way for people who don't play online or have the time/connections to visit others. It's 2,500 bells per peacock butterfly and they're everywhere. Way more profitable than fishing and fruit.

[Ashley]

1 hour ago, Ronnie said:

Balance changes in games like this don't have to just be for competitive reasons. Imagine if they gave you 1 million bells every morning, people wouldn't bother catching the same bugs over and over because they wouldn't need money. Or if they made every piece of furniture available from a catalog, finding or crafting stuff would lose all purpose. Those are extreme examples obviously but the point is there's a balance in game design that's done behind the scenes to ensure the longevity of a game. They're not doing it to try and sell us microtransactions so I've a hard time getting annoyed by it.

Counter argument; people still played The Sims for months after hammering the rosebud cheat. Different players play differently, particularly in a game like this. 

[Mr-Paul]

1 hour ago, Ronnie said:

Balance changes in games like this don't have to just be for competitive reasons. Imagine if they gave you 1 million bells every morning, people wouldn't bother catching the same bugs over and over because they wouldn't need money. Or if they made every piece of furniture available from a catalog, finding or crafting stuff would lose all purpose. Those are extreme examples obviously but the point is there's a balance in game design that's done behind the scenes to ensure the longevity of a game. They're not doing it to try and sell us microtransactions so I've a hard time getting annoyed by it.

You're making extreme examples though that don't really apply to the point you're making though. 

I'm not getting annoyed at it personally, just find this discussion interesting, but I really don't get how they think that reducing interest in the bank and making bug spawn rates lower will make things more enjoyable. Surely their decisions on how many bugs should spawn before the game launched were fine? Sure, if the vast public feedback was that they weren't spawning enough, maybe increase them, but I just don't see the need to decrease from what was fine before anyway 🤷‍♂️ 

[Aneres11]

Does anyone have the plain wooden sign shop recipe?! 

[Ronnie]

10 minutes ago, Mr-Paul said:

You're making extreme examples though that don't really apply to the point you're making though. 

I'm not getting annoyed at it personally, just find this discussion interesting, but I really don't get how they think that reducing interest in the bank and making bug spawn rates lower will make things more enjoyable. Surely their decisions on how many bugs should spawn before the game launched were fine? Sure, if the vast public feedback was that they weren't spawning enough, maybe increase them, but I just don't see the need to decrease from what was fine before anyway 🤷‍♂️ 

Hopefully the reasoning will come out at some point. Seems like they made certain bugs rarer, rather than reduce the overall spawn rate. 

Just now, Aneres11 said:

Does anyone have the plain wooden sign shop recipe?! 

I have the recipe but not a spare one. I can craft you some if you want.

[Aneres11]

1 minute ago, Ronnie said:

Hopefully the reasoning will come out at some point. Seems like they made certain bugs rarer, rather than reduce the overall spawn rate. 

I have the recipe but not a spare one. I can craft you some if you want.

Ah if you could that'd be great! I only need one really for the entrance of my island. 

Thanks so much - do you need anything in return? 

[Ronnie]

1 minute ago, Aneres11 said:

Ah if you could that'd be great! I only need one really for the entrance of my island. 

Thanks so much - do you need anything in return? 

I'll send in 10mins, if you need more just say, I also have arrow signs.

At the moment looking for log dining tables and log benches, if you have those, otherwise no worries!

[Aneres11]

1 minute ago, Ronnie said:

I'll send in 10mins, if you need more just say, I also have arrow signs.

At the moment looking for log dining tables and log benches, if you have those, otherwise no worries!

 

You're in luck. I have log benches and tables. 

I'll send over.

[Ronnie]

7 minutes ago, Aneres11 said:

You're in luck. I have log benches and tables. 

I'll send over.

Could I get two benches and a table? That'd mean coming over or you coming here though cause you can only send 2 things per day. Or just send the table tomorrow, whatever :-)

Edited April 24, 2020 by Ronnie

[Aneres11]

3 minutes ago, Ronnie said:

Could I get two benches and a table? That'd mean coming over or you coming here though cause you can only send 2 things per day

 

I can open my gates now. 

Don't be offended by the mess lol I have removed everything and am starting again! 

[Aneres11]

Thanks @Ronnie will post the table now!