Animal Crossing New Leaf Day 2 - 10,000 Bells Down

[xyzzysqrl]

Good morning! ... Yes, I do know it's basically two in the afternoon. There was a long DC Universe Online session last night. The important thing is, I'm awake and alert and ready to grind my fluffy arse off gathering funds to properly buy and/or decorate a house. Let's get back into New Leaf.



As the game is loading, black-screen-spotlight Isabelle has a brainflash. She never actually told me what working as a Mayor MEANS, did she? No, she forgot! When I find some free time, I should come sit in the big chair in the town hall and she'll give me the lecture notes. That shouldn't be a problem, but I'm goin' down to the seashore first thing.



A casual stroll puts me down on the seashell-laden sands, and I get to work scooping them into my inventory. Lots of sand dollars, misc shells, and coral. Then it's off to Re-Tail to sell them all to fluffy fluffy Reese. A mass-select of almost everything in my inventory nets me...



Woo. That's not a bad haul for ten minutes of beachcombing, and I only scraped one of the beaches of Adoravil. Yes, I'll take that. I also notice Mallary browsing the racks, and wander over to see what she's about. What she's about is BARGAINS.



I elect not to get in her way as she studies a plain-looking bright green chair. For me, it's off to the beach on the other side of town. How does one get to Shell Beach? Just walk. A few minutes later I'm back, with enough shells to bring me to an even 6,000 bells.

Now, I could be good and save all this lush hunk of change up... but I'm instead going up to Main Street, to see what the Nooklings can offer me in the way of tools. Y'remember tools? They're critically important, and if I can invest in a fishing rod this is going to become MONEY CROSSING in no time at all. As it happens, little Tommy Nook is willing to part with a fishing rod and a shovel for 500 bells each.



With these purchases, fishing and archeology become open books to me. But... what's that thing on the shelf there? A fortune cookie? Tommy is quick to explain that this of all their products is unique. You eat the fortune cookie and out comes a Lucky Ticket. If the ticket is good, you win an item that isn't for sale anywhere in the world.

Then the kicker: Fortune cookies can only be bought with Play Coins. Oof.

The deal with Play Coins is that they're only obtainable one way: You get off your ass and go somewhere else. Carrying your 3DS around in the real world generates Steps, and every ... some number ... of steps your activity generates a Play Coin, the way oysters generate pearls. Naturally, being weird quantum constructs of my digital pocket dimension, Tommy and Timmy are prepared to tap into this well of extradimensional money, because they'll take cash from other universes as long as it shines pretty when they hold it up to the light.

The question thus becomes: Am I greedy enough and committed enough to the Capitalism Way to actually leave my apartment and go places, generating loose Playchange in the name of scoring Rare Cookie Drops?

Stay tuned on that one. Right now, no Play Coins, no cookies for me.

But that DOESN'T! EVEN! MATTER! because I have a shovel and a fishing rod. Let's generate some profit!

I hoof to the pond closest my tent, cast, and wait.



It doesn't take long.



I AM THE GOD OF FISHERY! Unfortunately it's going to take a while before I start getting rich off this. Each unique type of fish-catch gets donated to the museum first, then subsequent catches of the same variety of fish get sold. Culture before cash, we're not animals here.

Well... Okay, we are. We all are. Shut up. Hey, who's that outside my tent?



I groan in agony, because Saharah only shows up in town on rare occasions. She's a sweet wandering camel who loves wallpaper and carpeting.

"But your home... is a tent." she says, with barely concealed disapproval. "I cannot help you." She turns and walks away. I fall to my knees and weep for lost carpet patterns.

I gotta get raking in the bells. ... Wait. Didn't Isabelle say something about teaching me to actually do my job? Oh my god, maybe the Mayor gets a paycheck. I gotta get over there. As soon as I'm done fishing.

While I'm walking the river, stalking in a predatory fashion, I bump into Ozzie. Ozzie wants to show me a truly amazing plaid orange/purple shirt (she/he?) has on. When I complement it, because not everyone can make those colors work together, Ozzie tosses me an "elephant shirt".

"If you don't like it, you can always use it as pajamas!" (she/he) enthuses. On a whim I try it out.



Are you sure that's an elephant? *squint* Oh well. Blue works. I then wave over at Bertha, who is in a sunny mood due to the ... sunny weather. Bertha starts going on about how much she LOVES getting letters. I can take a hint when it's thrown at me, Bertha. I'll start writing mail when I'm done harvesting aquatic life.



Like this one! And then... ooh! See that cracked patch of ground in front of me here?



Well, that's where I should be digging. Shovel equip... dig... and it's a Pitfall Seed.

Pitfall Seeds make... well, pitfalls. You plant them and then someone walks over them and falls in and screams. It's a great way to harass visitors from other towns (grief the other players, in a Nintendo game?) or if you particularly hate one of your townies, you can drive them screaming out of town this way if you heap enough torment on them. Me? I am a nice person and would never do that unless I really wanted to.

Fishing fishing fishing ~ Why yes, I am gonna show y'all every single stupid fish pun this game spits out.



Also digging in the dirt ~



And whackin' rocks with my shovel for no reason~ ... wait what's this?



Holy crap. I hit a rock and it broke and a sapphire fell out. SHINY. ... PROFIT. Oh well back to fishing. ENGAGE THE MONTAGE!










...wait, that's not a fish. Neither is that frog.
...
Oh well! By the time my pockets are full I have a stockpile of museum donations and profit-to-be, so I shuffle off to see Blathering Blatherskite. Er, Blathers the museum owl. Unlike previous games, Blathers can take donations in BATCHES. Previously you had to hand him things one at a time. Now you can throw him a group. I have him study my fossils and he enthuses they're ALL rare things not found in his collection.

I turn out to have a "Pachy Skull", a "Parasaur tail", an "Ichthyo Skull", and a "Plesio Torso". All of these are promptly given up for SCIENCE, along with a big stack of fish. I sigh a bit when I think of the lost money (this is turning into Ferengi Crossing) but you know...



It was worth it.

With all the fishing and collecting done, I have a total of 10,980 bells. That's JUST enough to pass off to Mr. Nook, which means I can stroll into his office, smack a brick of bells on the table and...



My home will be ready tomorrow! Everyone jump and fistpump like the end of a feel good comedy! Three, two, one... YEAAAAAH!



With that done, I crawl back into my tent, save, and quit. Tomorrow's gonna be a big day! Shiny new house, yay!

Comments

[ff00ff.livejournal.com]

Leave that pale chub in a lawn chair out back.

[xyzzysqrl]

On the plus side, you'd have a tanned chub.

On the minus, you would have a smelly fish.

[funkensei.livejournal.com]

Little bit of Ad-vice on the Play Coins thing: you don't really have to go anywhere! Put that 3DS in sleep mode, and then just wiggle it around. Do some arm curls, bounce it up and down, maybe twerk with it in your back pocket. So long as that thing is moving, you're earning 'steps' towards coins.

[xyzzysqrl]

I had to look up what a twerk was.

My life is arguably richer now.

[relee.livejournal.com]

You can also cheat by putting it on your washer and dryer, but that's cheating and you'd never do that, would you?

[xyzzysqrl]

Given that the washer and dryer are shared among the entire apartment building, I certainly wouldn't. Someone would yoink my 3DS and sell it.

[porsupah.livejournal.com]

I used to collect shells, and go fishing, until I eventually just went full-time into fruit farming. ^_^ I turned the town into an orange grove - and at 200 bells each, it was easy to get running back and forth, selling piles of oranges. I did still go insect hunting, though, sometimes to the point of fiddling with the clock to get them in season. =:)

How are the conversations with the villagers, versus Wild World? Have Nintendo given them more to talk about?

[xyzzysqrl]

Couldn't say. It's still really early, and this is a very -paced- game. Stuff opens up slowly.

[rowyn]

So what's the benefit to giving stuff to the museum? Do you get to see the exhibits full of your fish and fossils? :)

[xyzzysqrl]

I'll show that off tomorrow! But yeah, "It was worth it" is a shot of the museum aquarium.