Secondary players on an Animal Crossing: New Horizons island are running into progression problems

If you're an Animal Crossing: New Horizons player that's enjoying life on your own, then the game is complete bliss. You're free to do as you please, and progress on your own accord. If you're a player living on an island created by someone else, you're in for a few hurdles that could make for a bumpy experience.

We've known for awhile now that Animal Crossing: New Horizons only allows for one island per Switch, but you can have multiple accounts made to visit that island. The problems stem from the original person who makes the first account. That player shouldn't have any issues with progression at all, but all other accounts for that island are at the mercy of that original account.

Secondary players on an island will need the primary account player to take on tasks so that all other can benefit. For example, if the primary player doesn't donate five creatures to Tom Nook for study, this means a number of features will remain locked for all other players until the primary player does so. The same goes for Blathers and his museum, who won't show up until the primary player makes those donations.

Making things even worse, the island’s first resident is the who who's asked to help upgrade the island, participate in new projects, and check in on the status of in-progress projects. All other players on the island are told you ask the primary player for an update on those features.

Long story short, depending on how often you play and how much you want to do, it might be a better idea to buy multiple copies of the game, rather than waiting endlessly for the primary player to do what you need/want done. If that primary player ever stops playing and you want to continue, your progress could become locked due to the primary giving up.