[Poll] On game activity and personal opinions

[Owlrust]

I made this poll to see both how the community feels about the state of the game, and their personal activity in DST; primarily to understand how the community is progressing with the game as it stands each day.

[Frashaw27]

I mean in reponce to #4, I just want to play different games. Its not that Im bored with it its just that I want to play other games more.

[Canis]

Tbh, my only main incentive to play DST nowadays is friends and modding. I have more than 1k hours in DST at this point, and ~700 in Singleplayer, so of course I'd get bored of the vanilla gameplay eventually.

This, however, makes me really excited for the release of Uncompromising Mode, which is right around the corner. (Join the discord if you haven't already)

[Yuuko]

What causes me to play DST more or less often is just when I am playing it vs other games.  I typically play a single game at a time very intensely.  So when I'm playing DST I'm probably playing 20+ hours that week, but when I'm on a kick with a different game I log in daily for rewards and to check news, but otherwise don't actually play the game during those times.

I play mostly solo and when I have a world-wipe for whatever mistake I made, that is usually when I move to another game for a while.  Usually what gets me back into the groove of the game is when I decide to do something specific and fun in the game, like I might go into creative mode and play around with base design, or some farming idea, maybe a way to fight a boss, and then play a real game to put it into practice.  Then the real game carries beyond that until I run into another world-wipe scenario.

I'm not sure what you mean by "change a certain aspect" vs "make new content."  I mean...  Klei has been doing great things with this game since it first released, so I'll vote for whatever they're working on ! but after considering boat-basing I think the game could really use a nautical themed character like Wilani or Woodlegs, and more content in the ocean so boat-basing is more fulfilling.

[ButterStuffed]

After a cumulative 3,000 hours of DS/DST i'm definitely burned out.

If Don't Starve had some core design restructuring or had a legitimate sequel then I would probably be able to play again but otherwise I find it difficult to continue playing when I already know how to do literally almost everything and I don't enjoy mega basing at all since making bases in DS is so limited in comparison to games like Minecraft, Terraria or just straight up making stuff in Blender.

The character re balances definitely pulled me back in for a solid like 50 hours or so experimenting and enjoying the new tricks I could do but those have been coming quite slowly.

Despite my burnout though I check these forums pretty much every single day for game news and for the rare times when someone posts some obscure strategy/trick that I have never seen before.

[CameoAppearance]

I don't really get bored with the core gameplay of DST; I could say much the same about DSAlone but DST has emotes and skins, and gives me more opportunities to try out characters with fewer consequences for dying as long as I do it on someone else's server whereas I have to carefully budget my saveslots in singleplayer. How much I play DST is more a measurement of 1) whether my friends are running servers, 2) whether other games have something going on right now to attract my interest, and 3) how much spare time I have.

[ArubaroBeefalo]

3 hours ago, ButterStuffed said:

After a cumulative 3,000 hours of DS/DST i'm definitely burned out.

If Don't Starve had some core design restructuring or had a legitimate sequel then I would probably be able to play again but otherwise I find it difficult to continue playing when I already know how to do literally almost everything and I don't enjoy mega basing at all since making bases in DS is so limited in comparison to games like Minecraft, Terraria or just straight up making stuff in Blender.

The character re balances definitely pulled me back in for a solid like 50 hours or so experimenting and enjoying the new tricks I could do but those have been coming quite slowly.

Despite my burnout though I check these forums pretty much every single day for game news and for the rare times when someone posts some obscure strategy/trick that I have never seen before.

They make a great job if the game get boring at 3k hours.

 

Im my case, i have play 1200h and the basic gameplay gets boring but its normal, i just play other games or the singleplayer version (i still having problems surviving Hamlet and SW and i didnt explote all the stuff from link worlds so there is a lot of hours for me)

But i enjoy exploring ruins or killing raid bosses, that gives me stress and fear of diying and makes me have so fun (maybe some day i will get broring too) but its imposible to play to many hours withour being boring. If other games are played for more hours (like LoL, fornite, etc) its because are addictive i dont think this is healthy for a game (neither for the player lel) you must to play it because you want not because your brain looking for some hormones.

Anyways this game has a lot of stuff to do, even being pro since rhe 1st second it will take a lot of hours to beat the game and see everything, so its on the correct way.

 

Also the gameplay changes a lot with each character, youo can do challenge for your self, edit the map, add mods, play with other people to combine perks, the seasonal events (that can be added in world edit and by mods), fishing just for relax, base building (i dont really enjoy it but in my last game im starting to do it more beauty just for have a goal in the calm moments of the game), etc

[Yuuko]

32 minutes ago, ArubaroBeefalo said:

If other games are played for more hours (like LoL, fornite, etc) its because are addictive i dont think this is healthy for a game (neither for the player lel) you must to play it because you want not because your brain looking for some hormones.

Not that there aren't addiction problems some people face when it comes to gaming - but PVP is uniquely suited for extremely long term play because the meta evolves around the mind games between players.  This is why poker, football, soccer, chess, and everything else that features nearly mirrored competition lasts forever.  Once you've solved a single player game, whether its DST or Demon Souls, its solved.  PVP doesn't have that (provided the game includes good options for counterplay)

idk if DST even wants to go that way though lol  Although I do think it would be cool if there was a game mode you could join, play for half an hour, and have actually done something.  If I were to list my biggest negatives with DST it would be just how long it takes to actually do something.  I have to play for several hours just to explore the world and decide where I might start basing.  I can usually get dfly in first autumn, klaus and deerclopse in first winter, but if I wanted to do something like bee queen, toad, or fuel weaver that fast I'd have to start using console commands...  and I just don't feel good without wiping that world afterwards... so if I want to actually use the rewards from those bosses I have to put 12-15 hours into the world first.

I think this is one of the main reasons I play alone - if I join a public server I'd play for about 15-20 days and never see that world again, and there isn't a lot you can do in that much time on a fresh world.  A lot of the times when I go into a public server I'm basically doing a dfly or bqueen rush, or I'm half taming a beefalo and dumping it wherever someone else based and then I'm logged out, never to see that world again.

[ArubaroBeefalo]

15 minutes ago, Shosuko said:

Not that there aren't addiction problems some people face when it comes to gaming - but PVP is uniquely suited for extremely long term play because the meta evolves around the mind games between players.  This is why poker, football, soccer, chess, and everything else that features nearly mirrored competition lasts forever.  Once you've solved a single player game, whether its DST or Demon Souls, its solved.  PVP doesn't have that (provided the game includes good options for counterplay)

idk if DST even wants to go that way though lol  Although I do think it would be cool if there was a game mode you could join, play for half an hour, and have actually done something.  If I were to list my biggest negatives with DST it would be just how long it takes to actually do something.  I have to play for several hours just to explore the world and decide where I might start basing.  I can usually get dfly in first autumn, klaus and deerclopse in first winter, but if I wanted to do something like bee queen, toad, or fuel weaver that fast I'd have to start using console commands...  and I just don't feel good without wiping that world afterwards... so if I want to actually use the rewards from those bosses I have to put 12-15 hours into the world first.

I think this is one of the main reasons I play alone - if I join a public server I'd play for about 15-20 days and never see that world again, and there isn't a lot you can do in that much time on a fresh world.  A lot of the times when I go into a public server I'm basically doing a dfly or bqueen rush, or I'm half taming a beefalo and dumping it wherever someone else based and then I'm logged out, never to see that world again.

there is a high component of "i pee over the face of that noob" but yeah, pvp and that kind of game are always changing (and never get balanced xD).

 

I dont see the problem of "takes a lot of time" when its an aventure like game and for that reason i dont enjoy public server as you said.

I love the preparation to bosses, you have to calc what you may need or get killed. Raid bosses solo have this problem of a lot of time but if where more easy to beat them then it will be boring soon

[Well-met]

Once I got bored with DST I just decided to learn LUA to make my own character and also spice the game up with my own rebalances. It really worked into making the game interesting again even without active friends 

community forge and gorge also helped out alot.

Either way, DST is not having a drought of updates and Klei is super active so I feel it's a little too early to complain about repetitiveness.

[Mooagain]

I love this game, but just don't play it that often because I have other games too.

I'll probably start playing a whole lot more when the next update comes out though.

[Dorka]

I honestly would play a lot more if i had people to play with more often. The last person i used to play often with passed away 10 months ago, so i have not played nearly as much as i did when she was alive. 

[GetRektKids]

12 hours ago, Canis said:

Tbh, my only main incentive to play DST nowadays is friends and modding. I have more than 1k hours in DST at this point, and ~700 in Singleplayer, so of course I'd get bored of the vanilla gameplay eventually.

This, however, makes me really excited for the release of Uncompromising Mode, which is right around the corner. (Join the discord if you haven't already)

Could you link me to the discord? Or invite me. 

RoughCactus69#6094

[Pinkamena11FazP]

I burn myself so much from constant Roleplay to the point I've burned into my brain how to act as a few characters.... I play DST every single day because I love DST so much.

But I got less RP buddies than randos joining to troll

[GetRektKids]

7 minutes ago, Pinkamena11FazP said:

I burn myself so much from constant Roleplay to the point I've burned into my brain how to act as a few characters.... I play DST every single day because I love DST so much.

But I got less RP buddies than randos joining to troll

I'd be down to RP, but I play mainly on console. So I'd have to adjust a bit. 

[Pinkamena11FazP]

Just now, GetRektKids said:

I play mainly on console

I mainly play on PC so I've gotten used to the controls, also adding in mods that are useful to keep RP going. (unlike in the past when I had to force feed everyone before Creative Commands existed in my server.)

[GetRektKids]

2 minutes ago, Pinkamena11FazP said:

I mainly play on PC so I've gotten used to the controls, also adding in mods that are useful to keep RP going. (unlike in the past when I had to force feed everyone before Creative Commands existed in my server.)

I'll just hook up a controller, but otherwise, I'll be good. I just got my graphics card installed on my PC on Sunday. It's the first gaming PC I have had.... Ever.... 

[Pinkamena11FazP]

Just now, GetRektKids said:

It's the first gaming PC

Mine is old as crap but it easily can handle at least 30-40 mods... It's a beefy old non gaming PC....

[JosePapp]

8 hours ago, Mooagain said:

I wanna play dst with you man, do not neglect me.

Updates are nice too!

I think we all have that one friend we play with

[axxel]

I should seriously begin to learn modding. Despite being a sandbox game I can see some player are expecting some changes in single player mode but playing with others is a good motive to play more.

[Seot]

Im playing monster hunter and animal crossing is just around the corner . I dont think im burnt out just waiting for some new content 

[ShadowDuelist]

I feel it is not a game I can jump to the multiplayer for like 30 minutes (which sometimes is all the time for gaming I have) and leave, when I do that in public servers I feel I didnt really accomplish anything. I think to feel I did something, I need to have at least 2 hours to play.

So to actually advance at the game by playing very short periods of time, I have to play alone, and I'm sort of bored of playing alone (out of my 2500+ hours at least 70% was alone)

I'm still active at the forums discussions, and with twitch streamers communities. The fact that the game is still being developed, and that fans discussions has a large impact on the development of the game, keeps me very interested on the game overall. 

Sometimes, when I manage to make myself some free time I play on public servers, mostly teaching new players and laughing at the shenanigans that usually happen in pubs.

TL;DR: I never got bored of the game, I'm only bored of playing it alone, and I usually dont have enough time to do something meaningful in a casual pub server.

[Mike23Ua]

The thing that keeps people playing games like Smite, LoL, Fortnite, Apex Legends, Red Dead Online Etc.. isn’t the PvP Aspect...

its the limited time frame window you have to unlock all the crap in their Battle Passes. If you pay into the Battle Pass obviously you want to complete the full thing to get your money’s worth back out of it And be refunded the credits used to buy into the next one.

The problem with battle passes is that too many games use them, so if your like me and you play Paladins, Smite, Battlefield, Apex Legends, Red Dead Online, Minion Masters etc... you are crunched for time to get all that s*** completed without it clashing in with one another, and more often than not- you’ll be forced to neglect one game over unlocking content in another.

Trust me it sure as heck isn’t PVP that keeps us playing, I very rarely play PvP in Red Dead Online, Fortnite or Minion Masters- I play all of those games peacefully in coop or PvE sessions.

There is a Reason Call of Duty Zombies was so popular.. not everyone wants to actively engage in PVP content.

My favorite game to play WAS GTA Online... but when they moved away from adding more heists and coop content and instead choose to focus entirely on PvP stuff- I haven’t bothered going back.

I liked Year of Carrat, but even that was designed to be PVP instead of PVE. 

You could race alone with Charlie’s Carrats in PVE, or you could race other players Carrats without Charlie’s Carrats involved in direct PVP competition.

What should have happened was Charlie Carrats also entered the race blending PVP and PVE content together.

This is why games like Fortnite, Plants Vs Zombies and even Minecraft prove to be so successful it’s not the fact that their designed to be children’s games- it’s the fact that they do well in mixing PVE into PvP so that it doesn’t just always feel like the more skilled player wins every match.

Most recently I’ve fallen in love with Apex Legends, the limited time Halloween Event where everyone versus each other and then if you die you turned into a zombie and were then playing Cooperatively.. THAT Was fun. And a game like Apex Legends can not ever be based entirely on skill alone due to finding good loot on the map not always working in your favor.

 

the TL:DR- Please Klei If your going to do more events like Carrat Racing, Allow Charlie’s Rats to still actively be engaged in the Races & even if you max out your Rat she still has a chance (though obviously much less) of beating everyone.

Its a great blending of PvP and PVE content so it doesn’t just always feel like the best trained Carrat wins.

[Yuuko]

On 3/8/2020 at 12:55 PM, Mike23Ua said:

The thing that keeps people playing games like Smite, LoL, Fortnite, Apex Legends, Red Dead Online Etc.. isn’t the PvP Aspect...

its the limited time frame window you have to unlock all the crap in their Battle Passes. If you pay into the Battle Pass obviously you want to complete the full thing to get your money’s worth back out of it And be refunded the credits used to buy into the next one.

For a section of players such as yourself it may be these battlepasses that keep you playing, but the PVP is actually that persistent and popular to the audience at large.  League of Legends took over the top spot of most played game in the world with pure pvp content.  Their annual world championship drew in over 40 million viewers last year.  They weren't there to watch pve lol.  Smite, Paladins, and other Moba were quick to follow Dota and League's success to make their own pvp centric games.  League has pretty much no pve content at all even to this day, and remains a top game.  Apex and Fortnite are primarily played for their battle royal gameplay, and its this pvp gameplay that drove fortnite to the heights of popularity.  What made xbox and Halo such a breakout game for Microsoft was its online multiplayer pvp.  MTG is the longest running trading card game and is still dominating the market on card games.  The closest contenders are pokemon and yugioh, both pvp games.  Its why after hundreds of years soccer, football, hockey, ect are all still relevant even with only minor rule changes.

The simple fact is - by and large humans love putting themselves against other humans, for victory and betterment.  You can't take this away from people, its part of our nature as mammals.  Just like elk tangling their antlers together for dominance, PvP will be with us forever, and it will always be a top sport.

Not only on a primal level of dominance but also on a simple game mechanics level pvp will continue to win over pve.  An AI follows a script, and even challenging games like Demons Souls and its ilk stop being challenging once you know the patterns to beat bosses.  Once you figure out how to win against a computer its just rinse repeat.  This is the case with DS as well - when you first started playing the game it was probably a scary experience, starving, finding light, scared of spiders because you don't know what kills you or not, fast forward and now its easy to live for hundreds of days without really being bothered.  This isn't because the game got easier, its because players figured out what worked.  Adding more aggressive content won't change this because the computer program is static while we are fluid.  We figure out how to beat something, spread the word, and its done.  PvP is the lasting competition.

[Mike23Ua]

11 minutes ago, Shosuko said:

For a section of players such as yourself it may be these battlepasses that keep you playing, but the PVP is actually that persistent and popular to the audience at large.  League of Legends took over the top spot of most played game in the world with pure pvp content.  Their annual world championship drew in over 40 million viewers last year.  They weren't there to watch pve lol.  Smite, Paladins, and other Moba were quick to follow Dota and League's success to make their own pvp centric games.  League has pretty much no pve content at all even to this day, and remains a top game.  Apex and Fortnite are primarily played for their battle royal gameplay, and its this pvp gameplay that drove fortnite to the heights of popularity.  What made xbox and Halo such a breakout game for Microsoft was its online multiplayer pvp.  MTG is the longest running trading card game and is still dominating the market on card games.  The closest contenders are pokemon and yugioh, both pvp games.  Its why after hundreds of years soccer, football, hockey, ect are all still relevant even with only minor rule changes.

The simple fact is - by and large humans love putting themselves against other humans, for victory and betterment.  You can't take this away from people, its part of our nature as mammals.  Just like elk tangling their antlers together for dominance, PvP will be with us forever, and it will always be a top sport.

Not only on a primal level of dominance but also on a simple game mechanics level pvp will continue to win over pve.  An AI follows a script, and even challenging games like Demons Souls and its ilk stop being challenging once you know the patterns to beat bosses.  Once you figure out how to win against a computer its just rinse repeat.  This is the case with DS as well - when you first started playing the game it was probably a scary experience, starving, finding light, scared of spiders because you don't know what kills you or not, fast forward and now its easy to live for hundreds of days without really being bothered.  This isn't because the game got easier, its because players figured out what worked.  Adding more aggressive content won't change this because the computer program is static while we are fluid.  We figure out how to beat something, spread the word, and its done.  PvP is the lasting competition.

I get what your saying but DST isn’t designed to be a PvP game, I rarely if ever look at PvP in DST.. I see it as a novelty item, its there but it really makes no sense to be there.. when you die just respawn and try again.

 

Me- Personally I’m from a very very small group of Hardcore survivalists, I want to be challenged, I want to be harshly punished for every little mistake I make.., I want games that look at the idiot mistakes I make and to make my life a living hell because of them.

For Example- And hilariously some people are unaware of this.. but there are options to play Minecraft where you get one life ONLY, you don’t just die and respawn to collect your dropped gear, no when you die that is it- Game Over your world is deleted and you start a brand new one.

In State of Decay 2 Nightmare Difficulty simply using a gun at the wrong time can cause your entire community to fall, It’s the choice between fighting something, or hiding silently and praying it blows past you, OR Running away for your life as fast as your feet will go.

I am fully aware that items such as Resurrection Stones, Meat Effigy Revival Items, Telltale Hearts and Life Giving Amulets Exist in DST- But the ONLY forms of resurrection I actually agree with are Resurrection Stones and Telltale Heart.

The first of those choices breaks and is never available to you again after one use.

And the second one requires a player to find your dead carcass and sacrifice 40% of their own health to revive you.

 

Dont Starve Mobile has options to make your life harder- Such as playing the entire game with drastically reduced overall health from the very start of the game.

 

The TL:DR- I didn’t buy Don’t Starve, or DST for them to become PvP, And also didn’t buy either of them to become peaceful base building simulators where dying is pretty much meaningless.. I bought them to be Uncompromising Wilderness Survival games.

I do not want the game to punish players every second they are alive... but what I do want is some harder content in the form of new biomes, new enemy mobs, and perhaps some options to set a server up so that dying isn’t so meaningless by making it harder to be revived, or so that you can’t be revived at all & Dying is punished by full world deletion.

I want there to be a way for Casual Content, to Co-Exist right beside Hardcore Content.

Look at Destiny or The Division and how dying is so meaningless you just respawn and try and try again until you reach a Restricted Zone and then suddenly it’s oh crap.. No Respawn Zone, we got to take dying seriously now.

What If Lunar Island had its Own no respawn Zone? You can die as much as you like all the time All over the starting land area... but once you start doing battle with the boss of Lunar Isle it’s time to put the big boy (or girl) pants on.

 

In the end though- The only thing I ask is for Klei to find a way to equally balance out casual content and more experienced player content without sacrificing one preference over the other... Without Dedicated Difficulty toggles that are going to make my casual friends life’s in my hard server a living nightmare.. and without me joining their casual world and never having anything there be challenging to me.