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Animal Crossing New Horizon’s online is complete trash
- Thread starter Disasterpeace
- Start date
It's Nintendo. It would be ridiculous to expect anything except mediocrity on the online front. It's the first game my wife has ever gotten into, so I've enjoyed the experience of playing something with her. But when we visit others, or have others visit us, it's just beyond frustrating that a game behaves this way in 2020.
Not gonna disagree. Switch online in general is a mess and we knew it would be. Animal crossing though really is. I understand choosing if you want visitors etc to your island but there should be an option to just turn it on with a certain level by default if you choose. Also let me do things regularly until a get a visitor. I can then understand not allowing you to do certain things while a visitor is there. The pausing to load every time they leave and arrive is annoying too.
Then don't even get me started on voice chat, gifting, etc. Voice chat should be built into the system level. I should not have to use the damn phone app to voice chat. It should be seemless. I could go on with my complaints but it's not going to change anything.
Then don't even get me started on voice chat, gifting, etc. Voice chat should be built into the system level. I should not have to use the damn phone app to voice chat. It should be seemless. I could go on with my complaints but it's not going to change anything.
Given that they can actually make an alright lobby - like in ARMS and Mario Kart 8 - I have to assume on games like Animal Crossing they do this shit deliberately. God knows why...but it's so cumbersome and intuitive, it HAS to be deliberate. They've made it this way on purpose.
I visited someone's birthday party and it took us a solid 10 minutes to get 8 of us onto the island. It's so beyond practical it boggles the mind.
I visited someone's birthday party and it took us a solid 10 minutes to get 8 of us onto the island. It's so beyond practical it boggles the mind.
It could also be an error, my wife and I play online all the time and she at least every few days goes to do something and puts her switch in sleep mode which closes the online play session. We've lost lots of item trading sessions because of this.
They didn't. The online multiplayer was not up when reviews went out.
Online part suck, but there is so much stuff missing in this game that makes me not enjoying it as much as i did with New Leaf. Item randomisation, no swimming ( i mean, we're on a freakin island, July, and we just cant swim and catch ocean fishes? ), the characters interaction, quest, is very tone down from New Leaf, why on earth the sharks have no tails out of the water ( it annoy me! ), bugs and fishes got spawn nerf, why! , speaking of characters, you dont feel any difference between personalities, well there is so much i could write about, just tired to speak about it and most people seem satisfied that its good enough to go to the OT, trade stuff there, look up best turnip price. Why the game rely only on this?
Im not even bother doing anything else atm than logging daily, check the stores ( Two, not much like we got in New Leaf ), grab on rarely occasion one or two item i might not have, and decide its enough. I dont bother shaking trees anymore, it will piss me off to see items i already got drop from trees.
Id like to love this game, but i just cant. It feel for me as an average game, a deception compare to how much i love New Leaf.
Im not even bother doing anything else atm than logging daily, check the stores ( Two, not much like we got in New Leaf ), grab on rarely occasion one or two item i might not have, and decide its enough. I dont bother shaking trees anymore, it will piss me off to see items i already got drop from trees.
Id like to love this game, but i just cant. It feel for me as an average game, a deception compare to how much i love New Leaf.
This makes sense at least because it isn't saving and cuts the connection.
I'm a first-timer with this franchise, is QoL a little inconsistent in other games too? In addition to this online issue that the OP is talking about. The game has many decisions that make the experience limiting and slow in an irritating way, the dozens of mini-cutscenes, the delay in building and picking up materials, the small amount of things to do if you want to have a longer gaming section , I hoped that as time went on the game would increase the pace, but it seems that remains the same. Another point that I found bizarre is the issue of the island, I share the switch with my brother, the fact that we share the island, and because I am the owner he can do almost NOTHING is ridiculous, the same in Co-Op , only the player "number 1" can do several actions and control the camera, what is the logic of this decision?
Sorry for the small rant, I took advantage of this post to express this, the worst part is that I loved the game in general, but me having to play at the pace that it limits is a pain.
Sorry for the small rant, I took advantage of this post to express this, the worst part is that I loved the game in general, but me having to play at the pace that it limits is a pain.
It's certainly possible it wasn't enabled which may be why it wasn't accounted for much, but saying it's a feature relegated to only people who are super into it is kind of an odd take imo.
It's one reason why I wouldn't even bother having more then a few people at once on an island since if one person's net goes out or they accidentally put their switch to sleep or they aren't paying attention and it dies all progress gets lost for everyone, it's not worth the time to potentially have it squandered even by mistake or accident.
I'm aware of that, but why have this "leader" thing in the first place? Cut the screen in 2 and let me play with my brother freely.
It'd be interesting to know the mechanics behind how/why things are done this way. Having your own island doesn't help either as it removes the ability to edit/decorate/interact while guesting.
Nintendos online presence is something they honestly should be ashamed of in 2020. I was hopeful when switch was coming out that they would catch up to Sony and Microsoft but it has been pathetic.
All the points you mention are completely credible. It's really frustrating meeting up with friends in this game.
Why is there a 75ish character limit when you send an in game message?
Why are there 50 steps to send a letter?
Why can't you trade certain items or work on your island when people are on it?
All the points you mention are completely credible. It's really frustrating meeting up with friends in this game.
Why is there a 75ish character limit when you send an in game message?
Why are there 50 steps to send a letter?
Why can't you trade certain items or work on your island when people are on it?
Other than some nookazon transactions and some shit I really need like Celeste DIYs I stopped altogether
AC is like a black hole. It's so powerful is sucks in high scores without mercy. It's like reviewers know it's popular so they do feel good reviews for the clicks, which then pulls in even more people. It's unstoppable now. NH is my first and last AC game. I gave in due to curiosity plus not much new being released. It's definitely not for me, but sales clearly aren't giving Nintendo any reasons to care about online...or anything else really.
Didn't some online company recently invest a billion dollars into Nintendo and one of the reported reasons was a complete rebuild of their online infrastructure?
As is it's shit but with the number of copies of games they're selling I doubt they see it as something that has to be improved in the short term.
This kills me so much. The game is missing so many quality of life stuff but I would stick with the game if the online wasnt terrible. Put it down last week and havent touched it. If they can fix the online or add some quality of life stuff I will pop it back in asap.
They can't catch up because they ar even behind where microsoft was in 2006
This. I'm not sure what anyone was expecting, it's Nintendo and almost everything involving online with them pales in comparison to online on other platforms, and that's at BEST. At worst, some of what they deem to be an acceptable online experience is a flat out embarrassment for a company of their size and success in 2020.
I knew going into to this that the online would be awful, but even I didn't expect it to be as bad as it is. The ridiculous amount of unnecessary waiting, connection issues, and other problems just kill the online experience. So many of these problems shouldn't even have to be issues, but yet they are. The great tragedy of it is that the actual game itself is absolutely amazing, with fantastic polish and one of the most satisfying gameplay loops ever. As great as SP is, that can't excuse the trashfire that is online. Good online could have pushed it into being near perfect but that's not happening the way it is now.
It's pretty ridiculous that it's gotten to the point where tempering your expectations with Nintendo and their online means expecting absolute trash. I think what annoys me more than anything is that they continuously get a pass with this crap from a majority of fans. I love Nintendo to death, which is why I bitch so much about this issue, because I know if they paid attention to how their competitors have done with online and took it seriously, they'd be peerless. If Sony or Microsoft made their online experiences as god-awful as Nintendo and charged for it, they'd be crucified by their base, so why Nintendo continuously gets a pass from theirs will forever elude me.
We should all be wanting the best online experiences that we can get from them, especially if we're paying for it now. As it is now, for me, New Horizon's isn't even worth bothering with online.
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I mean I agree that Nintendo is behind when it comes to online.
But let's look at it from a developer's perspective:
1. Loading up the entire customized island and house, costumes and character customization, how many seconds should that realistically take?
2. How long does it take for a game of Fortnite and similar games to start? Probably also 1-2 minutes just like visiting an island in Animal Crossing?
3. Might the game stutter if you were allowed to walk around while it loads everything for an online visitor?
4. I've never visited anyone in Minecraft (so I don't know how fast it is), but surely a customized Animal Crossing island is more complex?
I dunno, it would have been nice if several players could "hop on" the plane at the same time, instead of getting the "wuh-oh, someone else is traveling right now, try again later". But really, I just check my phone or go to the bathroom, and then it's loaded.
Other than that, it's definitely my favorite Nintendo online experience, I mean I'm hosting 6 player online competitions on my island every weekend and there's only been connection problems once. Compared to the NES app, Mario Maker or Smash Ultimate, it works like a dream.
But let's look at it from a developer's perspective:
1. Loading up the entire customized island and house, costumes and character customization, how many seconds should that realistically take?
2. How long does it take for a game of Fortnite and similar games to start? Probably also 1-2 minutes just like visiting an island in Animal Crossing?
3. Might the game stutter if you were allowed to walk around while it loads everything for an online visitor?
4. I've never visited anyone in Minecraft (so I don't know how fast it is), but surely a customized Animal Crossing island is more complex?
I dunno, it would have been nice if several players could "hop on" the plane at the same time, instead of getting the "wuh-oh, someone else is traveling right now, try again later". But really, I just check my phone or go to the bathroom, and then it's loaded.
Other than that, it's definitely my favorite Nintendo online experience, I mean I'm hosting 6 player online competitions on my island every weekend and there's only been connection problems once. Compared to the NES app, Mario Maker or Smash Ultimate, it works like a dream.
It's pretty pathetic.
The game has some of the most Frustrating multiplayer I've ever experienced in all modes: online, coop, and sharing an island.
I feel like Nintendo needs to dedicate an entire new branch to online gaming. Hire the best there is. Have them integrate competent online into the future OS and games.
Nintendo is, across the board, terrible when it comes to online play. Just terrible. It kills the longevity and quality of all of their multiplayer games.
Nintendo is, across the board, terrible when it comes to online play. Just terrible. It kills the longevity and quality of all of their multiplayer games.
I love the game, I really do, but the online in New Horizons is a straight up disaster. Having to go through numerous dialogue boxes just to even select that you want "go online", then pick an island, and then fly over to the island is insane. Worst part of it is each arrival/departure interrupts everyone on the island for a fucking cutscene of their plane arriving and them walking into the airport. It's completely pointless in every way. It's cute the first few times, but it got old within a couple days after launch.
Virtually every other online game in 2020 just has basic menus where you select what you want to do in a few seconds and boom, you're good to go. Animal Crossing though? Sit through countless dialogue boxes you've seen hundreds of times by now, interrupt everyone on the island you're going to when they're in the middle of selling/buying something, wait through cutscenes that serve no real purpose, and occasionally lose connection while on someones island which almost always reverts whatever you did there back to your inventory you had before arriving. There are other issues that the game has like not being able to craft multiple items at once and whatnot, but I can live with those. The online in this game just straight up puts me off from using it sometimes. Trying to sell your turnips on someones island when they have 500+ selling price is such a headache because of the online that I don't even bother usually. If there's anything that needs to be overhauled, it's the online, but they'll never do it much less ever even acknowledge it.
Virtually every other online game in 2020 just has basic menus where you select what you want to do in a few seconds and boom, you're good to go. Animal Crossing though? Sit through countless dialogue boxes you've seen hundreds of times by now, interrupt everyone on the island you're going to when they're in the middle of selling/buying something, wait through cutscenes that serve no real purpose, and occasionally lose connection while on someones island which almost always reverts whatever you did there back to your inventory you had before arriving. There are other issues that the game has like not being able to craft multiple items at once and whatnot, but I can live with those. The online in this game just straight up puts me off from using it sometimes. Trying to sell your turnips on someones island when they have 500+ selling price is such a headache because of the online that I don't even bother usually. If there's anything that needs to be overhauled, it's the online, but they'll never do it much less ever even acknowledge it.
Animal crossing more complex than Minecraft? Animal crossing is basically a two dimensional grid. With Minecraft, you can drop in and out w/o having the game pause for the people in the world.
I honestly don't know, it's why I am asking. Can the minecraft blocks be rotated, or have many instances like the spinning wheels for example?
You can run actual logic with Minecraft. These games aren't even comparable when it comes to their online modes. Animal Crossing's world online is a far more static version than offline.
It's absurd that that made it out the door in 2020. The few times I visited others' islands to sell Bells was so ridiculous. Arrive at the island, walk a few steps, wait for a minute while the game announces that someone else is coming, loads them in, plays the animation of them flying into the island and arriving at the airport, walk a few steps, repeat.
Nintendo has never been "behind" in online functionality, they've always been off the track entirely.
They never follow any popular format or standard features, instead reinventing the wheel every single time.
It results in a very unique vibe for Nintendo products, but unfortunately also results in online being marginally functional.
I use Animal Crossing's online, but only to visit my irl friends' islands and really never in a group setting.
They never follow any popular format or standard features, instead reinventing the wheel every single time.
It results in a very unique vibe for Nintendo products, but unfortunately also results in online being marginally functional.
I use Animal Crossing's online, but only to visit my irl friends' islands and really never in a group setting.
wack*
but yeah, unfortunately they're still clinging to the mentality that online isn't a priority
Why stop at online?
Doing ANYTHING can be a complete pain in the ass
This video (which we have all seen) highlights it perfectly
Doing ANYTHING can be a complete pain in the ass
This video (which we have all seen) highlights it perfectly
It's a huge chore. I have no idea why it can't be seamless, they stop you from changing things when someone arrives anyways. The cutscene is cute once but there is no reason everyone should have to watch it, especially every time.
Those "message banners" should be all you see and that's it, no announcement of arrival at all. I've done 2 visitors and even that is a pain. Any more is just not feasible.
I like my one on one visits but gathering more people than that might as well not be an option with the way it's set up now. Worst part is I'm not sure it's something they're in a good position to fix. Bleh!
Those "message banners" should be all you see and that's it, no announcement of arrival at all. I've done 2 visitors and even that is a pain. Any more is just not feasible.
I like my one on one visits but gathering more people than that might as well not be an option with the way it's set up now. Worst part is I'm not sure it's something they're in a good position to fix. Bleh!
This is wrong. That's not how the friends list in game works. You don't need to open with a dodo code to invite people on your switch friends list, you just have to choose "open the gate to friends". The everyone in your switch friends list can come visit.
The second in game list is a curated best friends list which is also an option when you open the gate, which only lets people from that in game list in.
I would say Minecraft has a lot more complexity. It takes a good while to load up too. Where it differs from Animal Crossing is the experience is the same no matter who is playing. On Animal Crossing, the island behaviour is different the second you get a visitor: you cannot move or place stuff, conversations with Nook and Blathers change and you cannot do regular day-to-day maintenance stuff or send letters.
So there is obviously a need for that demarcation between host mode and solo mode. This, I would assume, leads to the situation where the host needs to prepare to leave solo mode before anybody can come over, thereby the demand to not be mid-conversation, or leafing through menus. The game won't send anybody into limbo unless the host is ready to receive, so to mask everything that is happening on the guest end, you get the flight board. Having sat next to someone who has come to my island, I've watched their end vs. my end play out.
On this, they appear on screen, so having large reams of text would not look good.
LOL
For reals, every single normie gamer on Twitter is talking about inviting people to Islands and selling turnips on theirs, it's part of why it's so mainstream to begin with
