Why do you guys host public servers?

[LaurelWreaths]

I`m a bit of a loner myself and never quite enjoyed playing with other people

But I did notice that people actually create public servers. I mean people come steal, eat gears, burn your base, etc and most of the ones who don`t aren`t exactly good at the game anyway. And from what I`ve seen these usually never make it so spring anyways. So what`s the catch? I`m still kinda new at this game and don`t know how a lot of things work. 

ALSO, why does everyone kick Willow out now that she doesn`t do the insane fire farting anymore? Any character can make a torch and set your base on fire

 

[YouKnowWho]

Public servers have made me some of my most precious friends. The game's just fun with others.

[metallichydra]

people kick willow because they have pyrophobia

 

or maybe because they think crafting a torch is something very time-consuming

 

or maybe griefers choose willow because they then can focus 100% on finding and burning your base, making the grief faster

 

or perhaps they just want to make people unable to play willow, by using willow?

[Lammarr]

For easily renewable Bone shards.

[Electroely]

Personally, I don't host public servers very often because I feel bad whenever I have to go and close the server with me, kicking off several other people in the process. I do play on public servers pretty often, though. Even with the risk of griefing, stealing, etc. I think it's not too bad. Vote rollbacks and vote kicks exist, and they tend to do the job well enough for me in most situations (I know it's possible to just rejoin and grief again, but I haven't found anyone who bothered doing that.)

The fun of public servers for me is meeting a bunch of other people and working with them. I treat public server worlds as temporary worlds, so I tend to pick characters I don't plan much ahead for and do all kinds of odd strategies to see how they work out. Last time I went on a public server, for example, I played as Wortox, made as much of my base as I can entirely on a boat and set sail, collecting salt crystals and the souls & meat of cookie cutters as I wander around the ocean. No one wanted to join me on my seafaring adventures, but I did bring salt crystals for saltboxes to the base everyone else on the server was in and deposited the monster meat I got from the cookie cutters. This was before Hook, Line & Inker, so there wasn't much else to do. I'm excited to try this again whenever the beta gets released, since I'll probably be able to bring entire Tin Fishin' Bins of large fish to everyone else.

[NormalPinkerton]

Because I'm lonely and I need friends to play with.

[NSAiswatchingus]

Well, if you're at the super end game you can use your world to provide a unique DST experience for those that join. Making a capture the flag set up, a fun PvP set up, or anything to make little games within the game. I made a Mini-MORPG on PS4 with Towns, Shops, Houses, Quests, and Events. Weekly scheduled hours so people know when to join up and can make progress in the world. I usually send invites to others I find on these forums or reddit, but most Autumns I open up the world to Public...and that's where the magic happens. 

Being able to have players randomly stumble into my world to be blown away and confused is something I look forward to every week. Sure, there's some douches that try to burn everything or steal from shops, but it's all worth it to hear kids and adults alike squeel with excitement and immediately start getting into the world. 

 

[Mencken]

I host them when I get bored playing alone, don't care what they do and if I leave I keep my character online in God Mode so they can continue playing.

[Mike23Ua]

To watch random people join and attempt to grief, but get mad and exit the game when I roll back their efforts in doing so. <3

[maradyne]

For me, it's...a love-hate relationship that contradicts itself all over the place.
Random people in pubs tend to be capable of very little beyond making a torch; and sometimes you're lucky to even see that much.
That can be frustrating. But it's also a nice feeling to show people the kinds of crazy things that they can accomplish by stepping out of their comfort zone. Had a lot of fun guiding a clown fiesta on a Ruins raid, the first time even going there for a couple of those players.

Or, y'know, just supplying people with a bunch of stuff and seeing what they do. I've been doing that a lot lately, especially with the Lunar Island; rush to find the part of the land edge that points to the Island, rush a bunch of wood and go boating, bring back infinite food and sanity sources in the form of Stone Fruit and Kelp.
Seriously, Kelp doesn't seem that major, the constant Sanity is a godsend to the less experienced Wickers. Which leaves them more free to experiment with the game. Nice to see.

 

So...it's just kinda nice to see how other people react to your actions, I guess.
But the biggest thing?
Challenge.

I've been playing this game since times when there was just base-game DS and nothing else (unless you count the browser version, I guess).
I can no longer lose.
That sounds great.
But it's hell.
Like...if I'm playing solo, I always know what to do. And the kinds of changes that have been added to the game have all been...external. Nothing that comes to you to try and end your game at inconvenient times. Nothing particularly difficult to grasp once you know the basics of the game.
Every 'challenge' in the game is a matter of grinding. Even if this game had more complicated mob AI...I'm good at figuring out AI patterns, no matter what the game. Especially pathing, which...trivializes most opponents quickly.
I do die sometimes...but even then, it's planned for. Always more Life Giving Amulets around than I can use. Always ways to heal, extra weapons, armor...

So I'm stuck in this state where, no matter what's added to the game, no matter how many times I restart...I know from the moment that I start a world that I've already conquered it. That there's nothing that can actually stop me.
Which is a real enthusiasm killer for me.

But that's where other people come in.

No matter how good my prediction is with AIs...
Human beings are unpredictable.
I can guess what people will do based on patterns. I can assume. But there's always someone that goes against expectations, in some way.
And when I can't predict everything, it throws me off. I make mistakes.
When I make mistakes, that puts whether or not I've already beaten the present world into question.

 

Goals help. But people shaking up the game pattern gives those goals some meaning.
I know that I can do anything I want in this game...
Up until you add into the mix a first time Wicker with access to a Prestihatitator and Red Gems.

[minespatch]

Boredom. While I'm busy cheating by spawning in items for art references and other things, people can laugh or call me out for being afk. So yeah, probably shouldn't but its fun to see reactions.

[Mike23Ua]

I host public worlds to play with people in the same world with me, but I’m also highly Anti-Social and rarely ever use a headset, so if your idea of fun is joining a world and surviving on your own or together, or a bit of both.. but without voice communication then come join my world.

I enjoy my total Silence only communicating through the in-game chat text, I can’t stand having children screaming into their headsets so fair warning- If you join my world fully expect to be immediately muted.

I am not MEAN, I just prefer communicating with one person at a time.. not 5 or 6 all at once.

the game is called Don’t Starve TOGETHER, but just because I prefer peace and quiet shouldn’t mean I have to play completely alone.. right?

[Ardcrumb]

I met someone who would become one of my best friends on my public server so that's why I host em 

[Mike23Ua]

On 11/26/2019 at 3:10 AM, maradyne said:

For me, it's...a love-hate relationship that contradicts itself all over the place.
Random people in pubs tend to be capable of very little beyond making a torch; and sometimes you're lucky to even see that much.
That can be frustrating. But it's also a nice feeling to show people the kinds of crazy things that they can accomplish by stepping out of their comfort zone. Had a lot of fun guiding a clown fiesta on a Ruins raid, the first time even going there for a couple of those players.

Or, y'know, just supplying people with a bunch of stuff and seeing what they do. I've been doing that a lot lately, especially with the Lunar Island; rush to find the part of the land edge that points to the Island, rush a bunch of wood and go boating, bring back infinite food and sanity sources in the form of Stone Fruit and Kelp.
Seriously, Kelp doesn't seem that major, the constant Sanity is a godsend to the less experienced Wickers. Which leaves them more free to experiment with the game. Nice to see.

 

So...it's just kinda nice to see how other people react to your actions, I guess.
But the biggest thing?
Challenge.

I've been playing this game since times when there was just base-game DS and nothing else (unless you count the browser version, I guess).
I can no longer lose.
That sounds great.
But it's hell.
Like...if I'm playing solo, I always know what to do. And the kinds of changes that have been added to the game have all been...external. Nothing that comes to you to try and end your game at inconvenient times. Nothing particularly difficult to grasp once you know the basics of the game.
Every 'challenge' in the game is a matter of grinding. Even if this game had more complicated mob AI...I'm good at figuring out AI patterns, no matter what the game. Especially pathing, which...trivializes most opponents quickly.
I do die sometimes...but even then, it's planned for. Always more Life Giving Amulets around than I can use. Always ways to heal, extra weapons, armor...

So I'm stuck in this state where, no matter what's added to the game, no matter how many times I restart...I know from the moment that I start a world that I've already conquered it. That there's nothing that can actually stop me.
Which is a real enthusiasm killer for me.

But that's where other people come in.

No matter how good my prediction is with AIs...
Human beings are unpredictable.
I can guess what people will do based on patterns. I can assume. But there's always someone that goes against expectations, in some way.
And when I can't predict everything, it throws me off. I make mistakes.
When I make mistakes, that puts whether or not I've already beaten the present world into question.

 

Goals help. But people shaking up the game pattern gives those goals some meaning.
I know that I can do anything I want in this game...
Up until you add into the mix a first time Wicker with access to a Prestihatitator and Red Gems.

Thank You, people are reacting with confused faces when I say that content shouldn’t be locked behind beating some big bad final boss, when your post right here solidified EVERYTHING I have been saying all day, You’ve seen it all, you’ve done it all the game holds no real challenges left for you.

Meanwhile I’m over here having my base collapse in on top of itself from intense Summer Overheating destroying everything in a Circular Crater for the first time ever.

[metallichydra]

the best friends are found on puplic servers.

[Be2014]

You asked about why do I play public.

So what`s the catch?  

 

I like to play DST.  I don't have many friends that enjoy the game as much as I do.  I enjoy playing and learning from others.  On a public server you get people at all hours of the day.  If it is 1am for you it is 5pm for someone/12pm or anytime somewhere.   You meet ppl from all over the world. A public server with Klei is sometimes the only servers that can host the ppl from different countries.  There are other public servers that the administrators ban and control. 

 

 

 

[CameoAppearance]

I don't host public servers, but when I join a player-hosted public server instead of a Klei server it's because I want to play something other than the default Survival Mode experience but I don't want to host it myself and none of/only one of my DST-playing friends are online.

Like, that can be anything from an Endless Mode server on otherwise default settings to a server with a huge pile of mods, although most mods specifically intended to make the game easier don't appeal to me much and that's the type that's most popular for modded public servers.