Dear Klei

[doubleh49284]

Dear Klei. I want you to be aware of something I witnessed on today's game. This is very important. Today, I watched a player, as pictured, build a campfire right next to the base's farm. He fueled it to the max so that it kept smouldering the saplings, but we caught that on time. A player had to stay there, constantly, in order to stop the fire over and over. I tried to start a vote to kick the player, but I wasn't able because I wasn't the old enough in the server. The oldest player, who was living by himself in the oasis, didn't listen to me at all no matter how many times I asked him to help. This escalated when the player build a *second* bonfire, so two players had to stay to keep watch.This went on for several minutes, until I lost my temper and began insulting that player, then the oldest player kicked me instead becuase he had no idea what was going on.

This is unacceptable. This is a problem that has stayed, essentially ever since the start of the game. This is a problem that I haven't seen your studio tackle in a serious way in a long time. Yes, ocuvigils can help watch your base, but they can't stop griefers. Yes, you can mute a player and even blurr their world's name if it's offensive, but that's only scartching the surface of what harassers and griefers can do to other players. This has to stop. Some action has to be taken in order to fix this problem.

I know you're not a big studio. I know it's probable you don't have the resources to moderate the entire playerbase. But you have to do something. You have to do something because if you don't address this problem you'll lose players. I've seen a lot of casual players pick up this game and drop it. I've seen a lot of new players having no idea of how things work and get crushed by someone who wrecked their base. I've seen the absolute worst of several human beings, pouring unabashedly during forge matches, bringing the worst hate I have seen in my gaming experience. That is the kind of disgusting behaviour I would expect from more popular games like Overwatch or League of Legends, but not Don't Starve Together. I love Don't Starve Together because it's a game that fosters a community of people who lack something from other games. People who are smart, creative and charming in certain moments. People who pour hours of their lives, spend dozens of dollars for a game they love. And you must respect that. You must prevent players from spending countless hours of frustration from people who can't feel pleasure in any other way but to ruin other people's fun. I think you owe them that much for keeping your game alive. That is all I have to say.

That has been my message. Thank you for listening.

[Owlrust]

Unfortunately in these types of circumstances there's little that can be done. If you were to play in a public server, you will almost certainly come across griefers as there is no established sense of authority except for say "the eldest player". You would be better off creating your own world you can enjoy by yourself, or with select friends; should you choose to make it public as well, you also gain the benefit of being the preeminent authority on your own server while having the ability to rollback if after you kick a player, the base is still destroyed. 

2 hours ago, doubleh49284 said:

until I lost my temper and began insulting that player

While I agree with your stance (for the most part) I will never agree that stooping down to their level or worse is justifiable. Judging by the fact that one of your comments is visible (albeit slightly) in the picture posted below, this confirms your own form of toxicity as well. I find it ironic in the sense, that you would call their actions "disgusting behavior" while also calling them a "son of a b*tch" (or whatever else you may have said) in the same sense. 

3 hours ago, doubleh49284 said:

I know you're not a big studio

3 hours ago, doubleh49284 said:

You have to do something because if you don't address this problem you'll lose players

3 hours ago, doubleh49284 said:

I think you owe them that much for keeping your game alive

These are either back-handed insults or a form of blackmail with fear mongering aspects attached to them. DST has seen nothing but an increase of players in the past couple years, and is ever growing at a near-steady rate with all the updates and effort that is put into them. One could even argue that loyal fans to Don't Starve wouldn't "walk" from the game simply from an instance or two of griefing. Ironically, the people that are keeping the game alive the most are the veterans that both encourage and help newer players to enjoy the game; not to mention these amazing people that frequent the forums with ideas and input, and even thank Klei for providing these amazing (and free) updates. Unfortunately, I cannot agree in the aspect that inexperienced players whom leave the game entirely after failing a few times are "keeping the game alive".

3 hours ago, doubleh49284 said:

bringing the worst hate I have seen in my gaming experience

A bit ironic.

All in all I understand your frustration, as griefing can ruin a playsession (especially if you are helpless) and can also imbue toxicity in a non-competitive game. However, it is unfair to put Klei in a position of blackmail and/or add fire to the flame [unintentional joke]. Many people at Klei are always striving to improve the experience for everyone involved both new and old (you can see that in the case of balance/change suggestion posts) and I am certain they are trying to find new ways to make sure that everyone's experience is fair and fun. The best thing anyone can do is post topics like these and have faith that they look into these issues and someday fix them. I hope you find the peace you desire in this subject, and can find it to enjoy the game regardless. Also, I see this is your first post so let me be the first to welcome you to the community!

[shadowDigga]

The funny thing is that there's no need to invent something to fix this. Just port those nice Hamlet houses aka "Slanty Shanty" to DST and make them check for Klei ID of person who built it to access. The house rooms can't be destroyed from outside and the entrance can be repaired with hammer. Always wondered why these houses existed in DS before DST when they are much more relevant in multiplayer.

[Tryak]

Honestly, I think the game is fine as it is. If you don't want griefers just make a private server or find a public server with trustworthy people. Or play with friends. If you come across a griefer on a world just leave, and if it's an old server or your server they should be relatively easy to kick.

[Mike23Ua]

This may be common knowledge but you can dig up nearby things and move them using a shovel.

this keeps the grieving fires lower..

but it won’t stop a determined griever from just lighting it all on fire with a torch anyway.