#1) I don't cheat. That's the biggest point of all. Many gamers have bought the Action Replay cheater add-on, entered in the code for Complete Catalog, played level 1.1 of hidden item Super Mario Bros, and traded in AC for credit towards a new Xbox. But with no catalog cheats or sneaky time travelling I still have secret items and future events to look forward to.

#2) I change up my design. My first complete furniture series was the Exotic set... I slowly found all the needed items, displayed them, complemented them with the Nintendo set, and kept it that way for months. Then it occured to me that it might be fun to go after a new series... so I sold all the Exotic furniture and went after the Ranch series. Now, months later, I'm trading in all the Ranch stuff in the Cabin series. Even the Nintendo items are gone, so I have room to display a different range of collectibles.

#3) I buy the eCards. Almost every time I buy some Animal Crossing eCards at Electronics Boutique, the clerk on duty asks me what exactly they do. First of all, read the trades, Johnny. But anyway, the eCards have provided a street-legal way for me to expand my catalog. I would estimate that 10% of my catalog has come from the cards. Meaning that the cards brought me items that I still have never encountered in the game. Crap, if anything, the cards are the one thing killing my replay value. Even though they have sped up my collection rate a bit, they have added an additional layer of fun... the GBA games are mostly cool, the pattern cards are great, and they do provide some stuff you'd have a miserable time getting them in the game itself... like the 15 different Station Models.

#4) I don't play more than 20 minutes a day, unless something extraordinary is going on. If you play too long in a single day, you're inevitably going to burn yourself out, because the game just doesn't offer enough variance inside a single 24 hour period. (Except when you first get the game and you go crazy talking to people, fishing, buying everything, planting flowers, and such.) It's best to jump in lightly, poke around, and get out. There's always tomorrow to plan a trip to the Island, design a new pattern, or send out an eCard password.

But this is what is astonishing to me. After eight months of daily playing, after scanning hundreds of eCards, after the occasional trading with Rhonda... I still know of several items I have never found in the game yet. Still! And I don't mean secret items like the rare NES games or the Nintendo Power Mario furniture... I mean regular, everyday random-ass items. Topping the list is the damn Well from the Western series, but I'm also missing lots of Gyroids, a couple Island items, and some Crazy Redd-exclusive furniture. Oh, plus here-and-there blank spots from the other village vendors... Gracie, K.K., Gulliver, Wendell and Saharah.

And last night, I saw Wisp for the very first time. I've played after midnight plenty of times, but this was the first time I heard Wisp calling for me to trigger his minigame of spirit-hunting. After eight months, the game still pulled out a surprise for me. That is absolutely incredible.

Honestly, I've seen the most of what this game can do. This summer holds the final pieces: the new season of bugs and fish, the summer camping games, and some other holiday stuff. I'm sure there will be a smattering of new conversations to experience; getting some new dialogue with a villager is a rare treat, but it does happen. I'm unsure if I will continue to play daily once a hit a solid year... I have a vain hope that the game will reward me in some fashion for perfect attendance. No one has yet reported any such bonus, but then again no has yet to play 365 days in a row.

And even though I haven't missed a day, I have missed various annual events... Officers' Day, New Year's fortune telling, Spring Cleaning Day, etc. So even if I stop playing daily, I might try to login on the holidays I missed from 2002-2003.

If anything, it will just fill the time until the sequel.