Character swapping, how do you feel about it?

[HowlVoid]

TL;DR at the end.

I want to ask how everyone feels about character swapping. I didn't make it a poll because I'm sure there far too many mixed feeling about it, to condense it into a yes or no question.

Personally I've grown to hate it but at the same time would never ask it to be removed. The reason why I hate it is because I believe it has shifted the game to consider balance around the entire cast as a whole, rather than each character individually. I think that if this mechanic didn't exist we may have gotten better songs for Wigfrid, perhaps even an attack increase song. Warly's spices means no other character will have the chance to increase their own damage in fear of stacking damage (Klei has said that the way damage stacks for Wolfgang isn't intended). There is a fine line to walk where you have to consider how powerful every single character can possibly become. For someone like me who hates changing characters, I wonder if a character like Wormwood will ever be able to deal more damage alone than beyond what is default. Then you may ask, "so you want every character to be a jack of all trades?" In a way, yes actually. Just because one character is proficient at fighting shouldn't mean every other character can't have a unique way to approach combat. Sometimes I think Klei might share the same line of thinking as we have seen every rework give a character a "combat advantage" such as Wendy's potions, Winonas catapults, Willow's bernie, Woodie's moose form, Wes' uhhh; so essential a character may be strong at one thing, but they're not completely useless at another (at least at fighting).

I kinda Wish Warly's spices where a boss item anyone had access to instead of locking it behind a character. The ability to increase your damage is so good when everything has bloated hp. Damage increases just arent available outside of abusing (how I take it) a character. There are other characters perks that are amazing and possibly too powerful for that individual character, such as abigail trivializing hound waves (all non boss mobs really) and Winonas catapults being a more accessible houndious shootious. Poor Winona only has catapults so she gets a pass lol. 

Now the reason why I wouldn't remove it is because this way of thinking is obviously my fault and flawed. I'm choosing not to benefit the character swap mechanic because I have (meaningless) moral issues with it. I'd argue every character should be able to do everything with different levels of ease rather than being proficient at one thing, but that could cause the game to become bloated with meaningless perks. Still, I do see the other side of it as a way to balance everyone out in way and for the characters to help each other. Maybe one day I grow out of my foolishness and see the light, haha (I feel so guilty and makes me feel like Im insulting both Warly and Wormwood .) By the way, yes I know how stupid I sound. "You want every character to have every perk?"  I know it sounds unreasonable... and that's not exactly it... Rather every character having fighting/gathering/exploration perks but tailored around their own personal balance.

TL;DR: Using character swapping makes me feel guilty, almost like I'm cheating/abusing the characters. I wish there were alternate methods to accomplish what other character can in-game, but that would result in a bloated game with redundant characters/items. Its really only my own fault and I can see how other may find it as a way to balance the whole cast around each other. Though I wish every character had their own "inner" balance kinda how Woodie is a true jack-of-all trades. 

How do you feel about Character swapping?

[JosePapp]

I feel like character swapping, if done right, can be greatly beneficial for a save file and tons of fun. I swapped from Walter to Wurt on my last save with a friend and it wouldn't have been as fun to keep playing there had I not done that. 

If anything exploiting it to pick and switch characters and or abuse of extreme circumstances ends up falling entirely on the player and that doesn't necessarily make a balance issue. If anything, maybe making the orb drop from CK or something moon related like the champion could work

[Dextops]

i was so confused you mean celestial portal? well yeah i think its kinda stupid because first something like that should take skill not rng and in general just ruins the whole "you choose this character you stick with it" part of dst like all downsides of characters can be forgotten and has lead to  characters being switch most popular example winona

[Cheggf]

I love the Florid Postern. If it didn't exist, I couldn't spawn in, and the entire game would be a character select screen.

Hey! It says character swapping now! My comment doesn't make sense any more!

[Echsrick]

well alsol i liked the jurry rigged portal way more then the florid postern

[LinknAllie]

I'd prefer the characters to be more diverse in the way they play.  Since having every character be nearly the same would just feel boring.  But I do have some strong feelings about character swapping now.  Initially I didn't care for it since I always stayed the same character on my worlds for as long as I could before making a new world.  But now I heavily dislike it since it's now one of the only arguments (aside from the NPC deal) people on the forums use against Wagstaff being in DST.  "Oh he's pick and switch"  "He'll be a pick and switch character" like Jesus Christ it's like Maxwell listening to the same phonograph song for several years.  

23 hours ago, Dr.Medic said:

well alsol i liked the jurry rigged portal way more then the florid postern

I agree.  I preferred the jury rigged portal.  Primarily for nostalgia reasons.

[SkyistheGround]

i like how the florid postern and celestial portal look aesthetically, especially the eyes but i don't think that's what the question is about

personally, im someone that likes a bit of variety so having character swapping as an option is comforting to me. 

i don't often use the celestial portal since my friends and i make memes out of the characters we're playing, but i sometimes swap

[HowlVoid]

14 minutes ago, Dextops said:

i was so confused you mean celestial portal? 

Oh yeah my bad Ill edit it.

[DrMcGillacactus]

7 minutes ago, Dr.Medic said:

well alsol i liked the jurry rigged portal way more then the florid postern

I would love to be able to clean-sweep the postern to change it, but I doubt it will ever happen

[Tuesday Pidgeon]

I really like the flexibility it provides. I don't character swap often, but I still like the comfort of knowing that my decision isn't permanent. 

[prezera]

wouldnt really mind if celestial boss gave you the ability to character swap or if crab king dropped it just to make him more useful. it is pretty op after all and imo unless you are committed enough to the world to beat crab king you shouldn’t have the ability to character swap. you start with their cons you deal with them.

[Scrubsbarry]

I'm honestly indifferent towards it, as while you can technically start doing it as soon as the first autumn, the only people that really benefit or use it are likely going to be at least a year or so invested into a world. Unless your holding yourself to a standard for a challenge, changing characters in a long-term world is a nice change of pace and allows solo players to benefit from having items you wouldn't have otherwise. It really helps remove the tedium from solo worlds by letting you use synergies like Wolfgang and Chili Volt Goat Jelly to fight bosses intended to be fought with multiple people that could last a few in-game days otherwise. Personally, I've almost never have used the mechanic just because in most worlds I forget to find the celestial orb, but ultimately its a completely optional mechanic that is fine to either avoid or use since you can play the game just fine without it.

[HowlVoid]

Anyone on console use the split screen to summon Warly at will? Just curious... 

[Zeklo]

Personally I see it as a means of changing playstyle, not a means of temporarily gaining a character's perks.

In that sense I'd love to see it have a long cooldown, so you can't just temporarily swap to Wolfgang/Warly to solve your fighting problems. Maybe have the cooldown removed upon defeating the Celestial Champion or something. At that point why not.

[Lokena]

This was a very important update for me and I love this change. The thing is, I play exclusively solo. I've never played with others other than the first few times I first got to know the game. And when I became more immersed in the game, I realized that I always had a huge problem with choosing a character - because I only had to choose one that I would be happy with throughout the world, and I love making worlds big and staying there for thousands of days. As a result, I limited the entire game to just a couple of characters, not giving myself a chance to experience playing for others.
This update changed everything! I was able to maintain my world and at the same time try different game experiences by combining the strengths of different characters for different tasks. This prompted me to explore these very strengths for the first time. And I don't think I would have been interested in the game so far without this change. I think I understand what you're trying to say, but... I don't think I'm usurping the characters when I change them. It's just that there are areas in the game that are better suited for certain characters. And this is not only limited to the unique items, but also unique mechanics, and accordingly - the tactics of the game. I don't know how those who play "Don't Starve" really "Together" feel about it, but I think it opened up a lot of opportunities for solo players.

[BeeClops]

I have convinced myself to embrace it. I get your position and sort of "guilt" feeling, but if that's the case for you don't do it. Honestly I would've probably got bored of my current world way earlier if I couldn't swap to switch things up. Or if I had to craft all those rocky turf and cobble as a non-Winona =) 

[ArubaroBeefalo]

i dont like to use it except for decoration propose, i prefer to experience every character alone, but i dont care if people use it. Actually is a good choice to have

if you are tired of your character in a long term world you can change it and also makes every player able to combine perks like if there were many players in the server

[Cassielu]

It's nice to swap characters to change the style of the game, but I don't really like the idea of switching characters for overusing their special abilities as if they're just a throwaway tool.

[Moonatik]

As many others said, It's a good thing for solo players, especially when we have a long game, 1000 days +++

I'm not ready to restart a game. I started it like 18 months ago. I try to play regulary but I also play other games, and I make some breaks when I'm wainting for contents.

I could restart something if I'd find a good friend to play with. So I change characters sometimes, and sometimes, it's just to benefit what they can bring to me. Wigfried's helmet, or Warly's recipes, Winona's catapults on specific places. The thing is I would have it if we were 3 or 4 players in my game, so as a solo players, I don't see any issues with that. 

Don't starve all together alone.

Thanks to not asking for remove this possibility ! That would be crazy. There is already many options that give the possibility to create your own challenge, like settings. We're free to play as we want, with no fire in summer or less hound waves.

About moral issues, I would like to ask you if you're a PC player and if you play with mods ? As a console player, I have moral issues with mods. Once I tried to ask Klei to put something for console players, but it was more to have all the decoration assets, in order to create something beautiful, like PC players. I would like to do a megabase, but I don't because I feel so frustrated without all PC possibilities. 

Hmm... I would like to see PC players playing on consoles... ah ah ah ! 

And what about the console command ? 

Moral issues ? No, no, no. Be safe and change characters if you want to !

I mean, there is so many things wer'e not suppose to know in this game when we play it as it is. Like how many damage do this weapon, how many hp to this boss, etc... I think we all passed over moral issues. 

 

[Well-met]

it's ok but it needs to be harder to unlock

put the ability on a boss loot

[Moonatik]

2 minutes ago, Well-met said:

it's ok but it needs to be harder to unlock

put the ability on a boss loot

The celestial orb could like... shine and attract some mobs around it. They will defend it, being hypnotized by his celestial light. At least, we'd have a fight to get it. But I'm in for a new boss to fight. Or a mini boss. Like a mob changed by his attraction. My precious Gollum's effect.

[Well-met]

5 minutes ago, Moonatik said:

The celestial orb could like... shine and attract some mobs around it. They will defend it, being hypnotized by his celestial light. At least, we'd have a fight to get it. But I'm in for a new boss to fight. Or a mini boss. Like a mob changed by his attraction. My precious Gollum's effect.

or just put the orb on crab king 

[Moonatik]

9 minutes ago, Well-met said:

or just put the orb on crab king 

Ah ah ! 

Other idea: that new specific mob could come to your base and steal you the orb. You would have to explore the entire world, except sea and cave, to refind it.

[clickrush]

For me the portal has no direct effect. But here are my thought snippets regarding character choice, swapping and related things:

• I play solo and duo worlds almost exclusively
• I currently have trouble choosing and sticking with a character
• I rather stick with a character and feel good about that then swapping them for a specific purpose
• I don't "mega base", don't care about turf (except utility roads/cobblestone), decoration etc. I just want to play efficiently enough so I don't get into trouble and can unlock all the things I care about.
• Sticking with a character feels more "survival" to me.
• Warly comes closest to what I think I want to play in a long term world, but still experimenting and not 100% happy.
• Flavor wise I like Winona the most but she feels like there is missing something.

[thegreatJash]

I personally don't like it. It has transformed many characters into swap characters, to the point where those characters don't even get normally played. They just sit there, waiting to be swapped for a couple days, and then back to Wolfgang. Warly, Winona, Wormwood, and even Wurt all rarely see actual gameplay from my experience. I understand why I lot of people like it, but in my honest opinion the least they could do is give a cooldown or something.