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Animal Crossing: New Horizons devs considering a save backup feature for Switch Online Users
- Thread starter Meelow
- Start date
We actually didn't. This response from Nintendo appears to be their reaction to legitimate outrage at their ineptitude.
Don't forget before the game is even released and based entirely on a screenshot on a box that may or may not be final!
New Horizons is my most-looked forward to game this year, so this stuff is really disappointing to me. I basically won't be able to carry over my town if I decide to buy a new Switch, is what this is seeming like.
I hope I'm proved wrong later down the line.
I hope I'm proved wrong later down the line.
I can't read Japanese, but on the UK eShop it says Support Status Pending.
This is way worse to me than the cloud save situation:
"Saved data of this software does not support "moving user" or "moving saved data". Please note that if you purchase a "second unit", you will not be able to transfer the original island data to another unit. "
Unless there's an error in the google translation, this suggests you won't be able to transfer your data to a new Switch. In most people's cases, sure, that's not a problem, but what if the Switch Pro launches? Or what if someone becomes an Animal Crossing fan after getting New Horizons, buys the new redesign, and can't transfer?
It's just real dumb and not something New Leaf had in effect. Of course this Cloud-based solution could remedy it but the fact they thought it'd be a good idea in the first place is baffling.
"Saved data of this software does not support "moving user" or "moving saved data". Please note that if you purchase a "second unit", you will not be able to transfer the original island data to another unit. "
Unless there's an error in the google translation, this suggests you won't be able to transfer your data to a new Switch. In most people's cases, sure, that's not a problem, but what if the Switch Pro launches? Or what if someone becomes an Animal Crossing fan after getting New Horizons, buys the new redesign, and can't transfer?
It's just real dumb and not something New Leaf had in effect. Of course this Cloud-based solution could remedy it but the fact they thought it'd be a good idea in the first place is baffling.
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You don't seriously think that at Nintendo HQ in Japan they sit around discussing how to react to an angry thread on Era do you?
You think the outrage has been limited to here? And that it only started recently? People have been complaining about Nintendo's idiocy for months, and not just about ACs save mechanism.
It most definitely is inexcusable.
Yeah same, took New Leaf across 2 3DS systems. Hopefully all will become clear in due time...
So this fixes the situation of if the original save messes up. But it doesn't fix if I want to get new Switch hardware. :(
Meant to go with "what if", my bad
Either way though, we've already seen Switch hardware change marginally over time, with better batteries, not to mention the Switch Lite. It's a dumb move to make it impossible to transfer progress in a game like Animal Crossing considering Nintendo's method of doing so already makes it a one-way street.
Nope. Those of us with a regular Switch and a Lite are still fucked, regardless of if we pay for Nintendo Online or not. Only Nintendo is this awful at stuff like this. I mean I play other games that don't allow local or cloud saves, but that's because those games back everything up to their own servers. Nintendo are just remarkably inept.
It really does. I'm still in the return window for mine and am very close to just telling Nintendo to eff off and return it.
Nintendo needs to get a Direct out so we can whine about things that are actually true.
... isn't it just Cloud Save with different wording?
On the other thread that took things wildly off the rails with whiny hissy fits I'm pretty sure people eventually agreed that a full system transfer would likely still work, as the issue was with how profiles work in the game.
... isn't it just Cloud Save with different wording?
On the other thread that took things wildly off the rails with whiny hissy fits I'm pretty sure people eventually agreed that a full system transfer would likely still work, as the issue was with how profiles work in the game.
Honestly I found it undesirable because I already owned a Switch, and then they basically released a better version of the same system.
A cloud save is a save you can access from any of your consoles at any time. I currently play Picross 3 on my OG switch at home, and then download the save to my Lite when I go out and resume exactly where I was. What's being discussed as a possibility by Nintendo now is a cloud emergency backup that you can only access if you've lost your switch or had your Switch stolen. Huge difference.
They really just need to get out in front of this and clearly outline what the options are. Even though the statement from the OP states that the proposed solution isn't intended to be used for a second console, this particular part:
This software does not support "Save Data Storage" of Nintendo Switch Online, but in case of failure, loss or theft of the Nintendo Switch body, in the original form of this software We are considering a function to back up save data. Use of this function is limited to Nintendo Switch Online subscribers. Correspondence time is undecided. We will notify you as soon as the time is decided.
Makes it seem like getting a new console would be supported after all. If loss or theft of the system makes the user buy a new console, how is that any different than someone wiping their OG Switch, buying an upgraded system (either a revision or some sort of future Pro model) and then using the backup feature to get their island back?
This seems way more complicated than it really needs to be, Nintendo.
This software does not support "Save Data Storage" of Nintendo Switch Online, but in case of failure, loss or theft of the Nintendo Switch body, in the original form of this software We are considering a function to back up save data. Use of this function is limited to Nintendo Switch Online subscribers. Correspondence time is undecided. We will notify you as soon as the time is decided.
Makes it seem like getting a new console would be supported after all. If loss or theft of the system makes the user buy a new console, how is that any different than someone wiping their OG Switch, buying an upgraded system (either a revision or some sort of future Pro model) and then using the backup feature to get their island back?
This seems way more complicated than it really needs to be, Nintendo.
I'm starting to worry you'll need to supply "evidence" of theft/loss to an actual human being before they let you transfer the save
Which would be absolutely ridiculous and inefficient, they'd be treating Bells with the same reverence given to actual real world currency
I really really want to play this game at lunch but I had the plan to buy a Switch Lite later in the year and I'm not sure now, probably the best Idea will be to wait once Nintendo clarify this whole mess. Why Nintendo is not a normal company?? This whole cloud save is so 2008!!! :/
I could definitely see them handling this the way they handled 3DS account transfers.
Ugh, that'd be terrible... And sadly, a very Nintendo-like solution to this sort of problem. Really hope that isn't the case, especially if you have to pay for NSO for that to even be an option.
Haha Nintendo. Struggles to have basic features every platform has now. As a switch owner I am seriously baffled by how archaic and antiquated their online system is. Why shouldn't every game have online cloud based saves??
Oh my god, it's not impossible that they're actually going to do this, is it?
"Sorry, you can't download your cloud save without a police report".
Good. I was considering holding off on purchasing it until some kind of solution was announced or figured out. I don't want to sink dozens, if not hundreds, of hours into it if there's no way to back up my save or transfer it to the inevitable Switch Pro down the road.
can you imagine how many casual switch users/families with a 2nd switch or getting a 2nd switch are totally fucked by this decision and won't even see it coming?
the new AC themed switch is sold out everywhere
the new AC themed switch is sold out everywhere
Their platform isn't antiquated. Their reasoning is.
Basically they don't want any time travelling/cheating shenanigans on AC:NH, thus they are employing stricter strategies on save data (locked transfers, locked cloud saves).
I wonder if this is a new feature that other games that don't support cloud saves will eventually support too?
No. I'm pretty sure this is limited to Animal Crossing.
The game nor the feature are even out yet. How do you know?
It might also be a technical decision, as it's possible Nintendo Switch Online cloud save backup might not support per-console save data, and only supports per-game save data.
The existing Nintendo cloud save solution lets you share saves across systems, which is probably why they aren't supporting it. Their explicit references to theft and broken systems makes it clear that this new solution of theirs will let you move everything into a new system, but probably in a way that effectively deletes it or invalidates it on the previous system. It's possible you could still use this to go between two systems you own back and forth but it would be much more annoying probably. They may also put a transfer limit on it to prevent such a thing.
I suspect people who want to play across multiple systems are boned, but people who want to upgrade to a new system will be able to do so. Selfishly at least, that works for me.
I suspect people who want to play across multiple systems are boned, but people who want to upgrade to a new system will be able to do so. Selfishly at least, that works for me.
They were pretty adamant in stating that the save data portion was for their game.
"For This Software" is pretty much the key term.
Just checking in to see if this solution satiated those that were freaking out over this issue yesterday... and I guess the answer is no.
Anyway it will be interesting to see how this is handled on the back end. It will be neat to see If they divide the game save into two types {island data, player character data} or if they keep it all in one blob with all the characters and island data lumped into a single set. The first way could do some cool stuff with allowing a character save to exist on multiple islands in a very weird way, while the second way would have have some weird side effects with jumping from one platform to another with different user accts.
Anyway it will be interesting to see how this is handled on the back end. It will be neat to see If they divide the game save into two types {island data, player character data} or if they keep it all in one blob with all the characters and island data lumped into a single set. The first way could do some cool stuff with allowing a character save to exist on multiple islands in a very weird way, while the second way would have have some weird side effects with jumping from one platform to another with different user accts.
Yeah, there was no scenario where they didn't offer something like this at some point. Nintendo would not actively prevent people from upgrading their system and this would cause many people to reconsider.
No. It does not.
It also very explicitly states this does not allow you to move your island to a new console should you purchase one. That's the biggest problem.
How do people keep missing this?
The way they've positioned the game and set it up it's not a surprise there are major issues surrounding saves and the mobility of them. They've set things up in such a way that it does create a lot of potential issues, independent of the whole cheating aspect.
Given those restrictions and issues I don't see why they didn't set things up so that there are two distinct save types:
1. The island save, independent from any one account, but can be linked to a single account when transferred to another system. This holds all the data for that island only.
2. The villager save, this save is connected per account and manages everything specific to that user. Their inventory, wallet and maybe house.
If a user wants to move their character from one island to another, one system to another, they can. Probably through an in game menu that acts as a "moving out" feature that secures their save data, items, etc. Like a packing up your home and all your stuff for movers to take away. This removes them from the island immediately, encrypts the data or whatever, and makes it ready for a proper Switch account transfer to another system.
This way say a situation where siblings or a couple share a system/island if they choose to get their own system/island they can move their character too. It's a win for everyone. Then when loading that save into another AC Island you're like a new villager moving into town, bring over all the stuff and progress you made previously. Not just starting from scratch.
The second thing would be the option to move an Island completely. Again it would probably need to be done in game through some system that prepares the data for transfer and encrypts it. Doing so would basically force all the other accounts/saves on the system to be setup for "moving" as well. While the main account holder's island & user save would be packaged together for the system transfer to another system.
Like moving into and out of town is a major theme of the series, so why not just build that into the actual process of letting players themselves move into and out of town. It's against Nintendo's interest to lock people in. Like I said before there's probably going to be thousands of instances of people first sharing a system/island then one person wanting to get their own system/island, and being able to move their character and some degree of progress over to that new system would be a huge incentive for them to make that jump and drop that ~$260-360 for their own system and copy of the game.
Given those restrictions and issues I don't see why they didn't set things up so that there are two distinct save types:
1. The island save, independent from any one account, but can be linked to a single account when transferred to another system. This holds all the data for that island only.
2. The villager save, this save is connected per account and manages everything specific to that user. Their inventory, wallet and maybe house.
If a user wants to move their character from one island to another, one system to another, they can. Probably through an in game menu that acts as a "moving out" feature that secures their save data, items, etc. Like a packing up your home and all your stuff for movers to take away. This removes them from the island immediately, encrypts the data or whatever, and makes it ready for a proper Switch account transfer to another system.
This way say a situation where siblings or a couple share a system/island if they choose to get their own system/island they can move their character too. It's a win for everyone. Then when loading that save into another AC Island you're like a new villager moving into town, bring over all the stuff and progress you made previously. Not just starting from scratch.
The second thing would be the option to move an Island completely. Again it would probably need to be done in game through some system that prepares the data for transfer and encrypts it. Doing so would basically force all the other accounts/saves on the system to be setup for "moving" as well. While the main account holder's island & user save would be packaged together for the system transfer to another system.
Like moving into and out of town is a major theme of the series, so why not just build that into the actual process of letting players themselves move into and out of town. It's against Nintendo's interest to lock people in. Like I said before there's probably going to be thousands of instances of people first sharing a system/island then one person wanting to get their own system/island, and being able to move their character and some degree of progress over to that new system would be a huge incentive for them to make that jump and drop that ~$260-360 for their own system and copy of the game.