DST and Burnout.

[Erineyes7]

I've been in love this game for a short time, only around half a year. This game has shot up to one of my favorites so quickly and it properly deserves that praise with the time I put into it.

But as of late, I've felt so bored of the gameplay that I find it hard to start something new in the game. It's been about a month since I really played it, and Certain things such as exploring have lost all meaning, as most of what I find on the surface isn't necessary to my experience in any way. At some point every world begins to feel the same and I find it hard to continue when I've already done everything in a another world   ( 1300 day world+ 2 400-600 day world's)

I want to come back to this game and really love it again. For those people who have been around for years, how'd you move past the Burnout, because I really want to show my support and get into it again.

[ImDaMisterL]

I usually just stop playing for a while and then come back later! Either that or I find some friends to play with that get my hype back up again.

[kiwikenobi]

When I get tired of it, I play other games until I feel that Don't Starve craving again, and then I play Don't Starve. It always comes back, so just take a break, and you'll be back sooner or later.

[minespatch]

I highly recommend trying any of the klei games to try out. Oxygen not Included if you like the builder aspect, Invisible inc for the methodical aspect, shank and mark of the ninja for action, hot lava for skill.

Hot lava and Hollow Knight really push into the skill.

[Pop Guy]

At first I played completely ignorant of everything, the most authentic experience, even before RoG and when multiplayer seemed impossible.
DS gave me hundreds of hours of fun.
Then I discovered the mods, and the game had a second renaissance. Use the workshop, it is an exceptional tool to give new life to DS, have no qualms about experimenting with the most risky contents, they are also the most fun.
However now, after having also squeezed every single page of the workshop, it is me who directly modifies the game. :]

"Either you die a purist, or you live long enough to be a modder"

[ADM]

It's just inevitable as you literally burn-out from playing too much, it gets you at this point, at least it's this situation for me as well and a lot of other people, give yourself some time on other stuff and wait for some hype to return when an update or two is announced and that should do the trick.

[sudoku]

Not  doing the same thing over and over again has kept me coming back over the years. 

Some examples of things you could do:

Play characters you usually would not play.

Commit to a goal you set before that is different from what you normally do.

Work on a mega base

    -Decorate a base for aesthetic

Change your play style.

   - Base only in caves/lunar

    -Only allow yourself to have a boat base

    -Do a nomad playthrough

Play pubs instead of your own world.

    -Help newer players out on their servers.

    -Try and perform rushes (ruins/lunar) before you get bored (usually around mid winter to spring for me). 

    Basically just switch up your gameplan when you start to get burned out.

[Scrubsbarry]

Burnout is pretty much inevitable for any online multiplayer game, but for DST especially imo since the game can feel monotonous after a certain point despite there being so much to do. You could try spicing up gameplay with a mod or challenging yourself, but what I usually do is take a break from it for a few months and revisit it when content drops, whether that be an entire new world and playing for a year or two or just going on pubs and checking out the content quickly.

DST is one of thousands of games to experience out there. Playing other games or finding other time killers is reasonable, as I don't think anyone would mentally want to play Don't Starve Together all day every day since its launch. Personally I'm a fan of longer single-player games like Yakuza 7 or Hollow Knight, which I usually cycle through doing one to three of those types of games and then returning to multiplayer games. Whatever suits you, taking breaks is completely fine, and its better to take a break now and experience the game fresh again later then throwing your head against the wall now and getting frustrated with something you enjoy.

[BeeClops]

I've played the game for many years and go through burnouts periodically, but i still come back to it after a few months usually. I think taking a break from it can be beneficial if you feel lost, with the constant stream of updates you won't forget about it anyway.

I used to get bored at my world generally at around the 1k day mark, but lately I've been able to keep taking on bigger projects and i enjoy expanding and designing more and more. That's for my world, sometimes i spice up my gameplay with public server play and socializing, rushing stuff with randoms or just helping around on pubs or client hosted worlds.

[Mike23Ua]

There’s so much to do in this game that it’s impossible to get burned out for me.

When I grow bored- I delete world starting over, I play as another character, I change some world Gen/settings.. I host worlds with “No Ice, Infinite Summer” etc..

I explore content and areas I normally wouldn’t (such as the Return of Them related stuffs and Seaweed Barnacle)

I do some Seafishing just to see what I might catch.

I buy some skins to decorate a base (not mega just moderately sized base) for purely decorative purposes..

When I get bored with all of that and how incredibly repetitive DSTs biomes & set pieces can feel: I play single player Dont Starve & I enjoy Shipwrecked & Hamlet mobs, biomes, weather hazards, playable characters, etc..

But before true burnout can settle in Klei delivers the monthly content update that keeps me playing 

[wons]

Just don't force yourself to play the game, it will only make it worse Play when you want. You can play other games instead until you feel you want to play some dst :P

[HeilerderWelten]

I had a 2 year break and than got back to Forgotten Knowledge.

[Caochu]

I play a different character in a fresh new world. I don't character swap. So the experience is totally different.

You will not play an only Wormwood world the same way you will play an only Wendy world 

[GetNerfedOn]

Good things don't last forever. But don't cry when its over, smile that it happened.

[Szczuku]

Yeah... dst's kinda like that. Even after the long awaited YotB had arrived I became bored with the game after about 1 play session.

Probably not the first and not the last time this will happen

[Well-met]

1. it's normal to get burned off a game, especially a sandbox one

2. try to avoid mega bases

3. try to avoid the "automatic win" strategies like civil wars and thermal stones

4. try exploring LUA and making your own mod or character

5. perhaps try public servers?

[Viktor234]

Stop playing on private 1k worlds and join a public server, the new challenge & all the players around there should keep you entertained for a bit longer. While doing so you can also try some other things like picking different characters or setting up your base in a totally different spot.

[NSAiswatchingus]

You can do what I did and get older and busier. You can't get burntout if you barely have time to play. *taps head* 

Really though, I've kept entertained years after "beating" the game by thinking outside the box with building projects. Megabases are old news and make things too easy imo. Try to make something that will alter or enhance the og DST experience for yourself or those that join your world. 

[Cheggf]

Of the 7 years I've been playing Don't Starve I've probably only actually played the game for about 10 or 20 of those 84 months. Either come back later like I always do or try new things. Public servers are a very different experience, and what I usually play on since starting fresh every play session always gives more to do (although also takes away what you can do). I like to do something different every time I play on a public server, maybe one day I'll make a boat base, the next I'll make a cave base, the next I'll focus on farming, the next I'll make pirate island, etc.

[Rinkusan]

I highly recommend playing on public servers; not just the official servers but the large dedicated servers. Surviving alongside 14-20 players is a unique and imo underrated experience; more people to talk to and work on a massive base, and a nice challenge of keeping more mouths fed to boot.

I've been actively playing the game a little under 2 years, and only somewhat recently have I been burnt out. If you get to the point where DST has nothing else to offer you, I second @minespatch's advice on trying out another game. ONI's great if you're a nerd who's into resource management and fun semi-realistic chemistry mechanics like I am.

[pyroisshy]

Experiment with mods. I recommend using "Do Your Map!" and "Giant Size" to make a world with a giant ocean and many separate islands to sail to. If that doesn't make enough of a difference, there are lots of mods that rework crucial parts of the game.

[Mike23Ua]

I want to touch on the Nomad Playstyle: it’s something that I tend to do in almost every single world I play within, and for me Nomad is the following things-

I AM allowed to have a base (or 500 bases) very small bases though: no mega bases allowed.

I AM NOT allowed to use a shovel to up root and move any of the worlds resources back to my base: Which means- if I want grass.. twigs (more on this later..) or juicy berries I have to go directly to their source locations.

I CAN Replant Trees with Pinecones in my base: but can’t uproot saplings from their locations and take those back to base.

If grass tufts happen to become loose through methods beyond my own doing (such as meteor shower) I can pick up and replant those where I picked them up at.

I CAN Build useful structures like Garden Rig-A-Majig & start a garden.

Your not allowed to conveniently relocate all the worlds resources into your Base & never have to leave the area to gather the things you need.. that is what I consider “Nomad” playstyle.

And NOW with having Beefalo & the Cowbell (assuming the feature stays after the event is over..) it is easier than ever to get yourself a noble Mount to ride back and forth to the source locations of resources  

The theme is basically: “Living off the Land” & not just “Relocate all the land to my Base & become incredibly bored..”

I like exploring hostile worlds full of dangers, I enjoy having to leave my base and go gather things.. rather then have those things in bulk supply right there in base- It’s a self imposed playstyle: But it’s fun, and I even do this nomadic playstyle while also dealing with Random Weather Seasons & Season Lengths..

Its just so much fun. & if you have never tried playing the game in this way before, it is something I highly HIGHLY recommend  

After all: it is a playstyle that DS Solo adventures mode tried to force upon you- you never could just build a base full of resources & live forever: you HAD to rush the map to find the Wooden thing parts and get the heck up out of there into the next chapter.

 

[Terra B Welch]

I won't lie, I've been burnt out on DST since about a week before the reap what you sow update, so I've ended up taking a break and decided to work on my minecraft modpack in the meantime.

Sometimes even after having played the same game in multiple different ways, burnout is inevitable, I think sometimes the best thing is to do is to take a break and come back later, wait for the flame to re-kindle.

If you've dumped a few thousand hours into DST, it should come to no suprise that burnout happens.

[MondayNight]

Try different WorldGen settings, not just default.

Are you playing on PC and not shy about using mods? In spoiler below you have some interesting (subjective assessment) DST Steam Workshop server-side mods you may fancy to try out.

Spoiler

1) WorldGen altering mods, macro-packs that alter a lot your generated worlds:

  •  Megarandom world generation - provides a lot of content not only from Caves-on-Surface, but also has special unique biomes with special creatures, and more; but careful in using it, may generate conflicts with other mods that could result in crashes;

  •  Tropical Experience | The Volcano Biome - adds contents from Hamlet, Shipwrecked, The Gorge, The Forge plus not-implemented elements;

  •  Uncompromising Mode - mod-pack not only increasing the risk-reward for players that have mastered DST (macro world, mobs, and character re-balances included), but also provides new, special content; a slight minus, aside quite increased difficulty, is the fact it may end up feeling as a giant battle arena mobs/bosses wave-based experience and art on special elements may be a bit sub-par in relation to DS/T;

  •  [DST] Legion - mod pack providing a variety of plants, mobs and bosses with special mechanics, also new complex weapons, foods and more; new Moon and Cave content too;

  •  Cherry Forest - generates a beautiful big island on par with Moon Isle, with special trees, plants, mobs, sounds and more, offering a soothing experience; special foods and mini/bosses included.

 

2) special WorldGen micro-challenges:

  •  The Islands - survive in a custom series-of-islands world gen: try and yeet the Dragonfly, survive or kill Shadow Pieces, and more;

  •  Minimalist Challenge - survive a micro-island environment with very limited resources as much as you can; try and kill Klaus when the time arrives; hunt MacTs; go against Bee Queen if the micro gen spawns her; and see how you deal with seasonal Giants in roughly 1-screen-island where you need to camp all-year-round;

 

3) Individual mobs, special set-pieces or various actions-inducing mods:

  •  Witching Hour - generates a particular peninsula in your world with a special house and mob, the trader pig Witch (and her cat) who accepts live animals for new/particular crafting recipes. Provides Elder mandrakes and Ro Bin as well. For added fun.. slap/punch/mush the trader's cat to see.. magic happening *wink*;

  •  Whispering Wisespy - spawns around your world cute shadow owl-like creature and their nests; they're.. mostly harmless. You can also adopt one from Rock Den as pet;

  •  Glimmer and Family for DST - provides a female equivalent of Glommer trough a special crafted Statue, the Glimmer; makes "Glimmer Sap", a healing and sanity-raising substance; can spawn babies with Glommer (can adjust rates of birth, difficulty of recipe, as well as number of total Glommers/Glimmers);

  •  Koalefanta Proboscidea - more Koalefant types to discover and hunt, with various bons/cons, plus adjacent cute elements;

  •  Sweet House - fancy the Hamlet's Slanty Shanty house and its mechanics? Then try this mod - provides not only one, but 4 types (at moment of this post) of houses with diverse indoor decor plus adjacent builds;

  •  Adshovel - want to transplant all manner of weeds and bushes from around world into your base? Look no further, with this little mod you can cram in your camp all the plants your horticulturist heart desires; pests not included;

  •  Hamlet Stuff - contains a lot of... wait for iiiiit: Hamlet stuff! Statues, Houses, turf, decor, builds and more. But just cosmetics and decorative.

 

4) Some character mods, an assorted blend quite nicely balanced I reckon:

  •  Womp, The Abyssal - a walking Tentacle who's main stats' mechanic gravitates around wetness;

  •  Charlie: Stranger Newer Powers - the Grue assistant, now as a character; character skins included;

  •  Weston the Wandering Cactus - a walking Cactus; very good in Summer, horrendous in Winter; is a cactus, hence mobs that mush it also get damage;

  •  Devon, the Hunter - yes, the classic "nimble but weak" archetype (50 hp, 100 hunger that drains slowly, and 50 sanity draining quickly at night, 1.5x speed), with a special caveat: Panic Attacks - randomly he may lose sanity. A LOT of sanity. And considering he has only 50 of it, expect to be insane most times, more so during boss fights;

  •  Wort, The Shambling Fungus - a walking... you guessed it, mushroom; has some pretty interesting and fun stats plus mechanics for quite different game-play;

  •  Wythe, the Shadow Fencer - a character centered on sanity manipulation to gain bons/cons; has special builds around NF;

  •  Jelliet, the Slime Girl - a slime character without Hunger stat, but burns her health instead; gets 1/2 value from foods as HP; can spawn slime minions;

  •  Gawr Gura - are you into the new VTuber phenomenon? Here's the perfect character for your fetish liking *thumbs-up* Even if not interested in VT, still this character may be fun thanks to her stats, and the fact is an Ocean-oriented folk;

  •  Reign of Runts - finally, as the proverbial "best for last", have you ever wondered how would be to roam the Constant as a giant? A mini-giant at that, a character Runt Deerclops, Bearger, MooseyGoosey, or angry MiniFly? Wonder no more, this must surely be the mod for you - beautiful art, fun mechanics, amusement assured; or, at least, try it - (probably) will be to your fancies.

But most of it, as others suggested, try public servers, more-so the various communities variety. And not just Survival, but Endless and Wilderness as well. Playing with random people really shifts your game focus a lot and provides plenty of entertainment (plus shenanigans).

Special note: play different characters and have different play styles.

[. . .]

i've been burnt out of vanilla for years now, use big mods they make the game much more fun and less boring