Anyone else played the game a lot but have very little progress on it?

[Lennard]

I have 660 hours on Steam. However I haven't really accomplished anything "late-game" in a legitimate playthrough. Like defeating the Ancient Fuelweaver or designing megabases. I usually play on random servers that reset constantly or play a solo save for 1-2 in-game years before starting another one.

[flamboyant wolf]

it's ok, everyone goes at their own pace. 

Hell, I haven't even bothered with ruins much for the first 800 hours. 

[DownloadADuck]

That's pretty normal

I only started even touching killing raid bosses after 900~ hours

[astroapyr]

It's impossible on survival public servers, happened to me until I tried endless/wilderness private servers, and even then doing FW solo is a multitasking nightmare.

 

But it's normal, and late game is supposed to be achieved Together with friends, despite how good some solo players are at it.

 

This is worth mentioning too, but I'm almost 3k hours in and I just solo'd reworked Ancient Guardian a few days ago, so you can do all these when you feel ready to try.

[ECS.98]

That is completely normal. With over 3000 hours in the game only recently i started to get into serious late game content, such as clearing the ruins and killing the Ancient Fuelweaver. And i've yet to engage with some of the more advanced ocean content like Crab King and Celestial Champion.

There's a lot you can do in this game, and no right way to play it. And unlike what some people want you to believe, DST is a hard game! 

[arubaro]

Is normal

Enjoy the travel, you are only new once

[grm9]

if you want to get better quicker, make a solo world and try to kill bosses quickly, think about the route/copy it from someone else's run, then go by that route, rollback after failing in any way, e.g. dying or forgetting to bring something and it's too late, then, after finishing that run, do another one, trying to minimize rollbacks and get as much stuff as you can first try consistently and repeat making a world -> making another world with more experience and hopefully less mistakes, assuming that this is what you want to do and you're unsatisfied with current knowledge and skill, or, if you want to make a megabase, just make it, that'll be much easier since you don't need to kill bosses early and could spend as much time preparing as you want, to the point of killing bosses using only gunpowder

26 minutes ago, astroapyr said:

It's impossible on survival public servers

we've killed FW in spring last two times i've played on klei public servers, you just need to get a team of people that won't leave before you do all of that or do all of that yourself, since it usually isn't harder with others than without aside from latency 

19 minutes ago, ECS.98 said:

DST is a hard game

difficulty is subjective    

[Yuuko]

Its easy to play for a long time just enjoying the game without getting into late game content b/c doing a full run usually involves doing something that is not fun lol.

I went over 2k hours before doing CK in a real run b/c I just don't like that boss.  I do it now only because I MUST to get to the portals and new content, and I still hate it every time.

Don't push yourself to do end-game content unless you want to - and if you do feel free to look up guides and strategies to take the edge off of any content that just isn't fun for you.  Play solo worlds where you go through the content in an order that sounds fun for you, and aim for 100-150 day completion of AFW / CC and use rollbacks to reset and practice any fights that you struggle with to get more experience.  Once you make it through a few times getting to late game is not that tough.

[xDarkSoul18x]

Nope but i have a friend just like it haha. Once they make it past the first year regardless of killing anything or doing content outside of the standard biomes its "Want to make a new wordl?" Where as I am more of a long term long world player. Take you're time you'll get to it eventually. 

[BezKa]

It took me 1000 hours before I killed Fuelweaver. Sometimes the game is just fun to play, without achieving something amazing. As long as you're having fun, you're doing it correctly.

[grm9]

28 minutes ago, Yuuko said:

I do it now only because I MUST to get to the portals and new content, and I still hate it every time

why not c_spawn("moon_altar_crown")?

[Uedo]

Don't worry about it, it took me a really long time before I tackled a lot of stuff - Enjoy it, honestly!

[Mike23Ua]

My issue with this game is that it is advertised and sold as an Uncompromising survival sandbox game, it’s even categorized as a RogueLite (well at least the solo DS game was..)

So I’ve always had a HUGE problem with having these “Bosses” that give you rewards that make staying alive that much easier.

Despite how many people would rather Redact the word “Uncompromising” the game should still at least “TRY” to retain some of that.

so here: Let’s take a trip into Mike Land for once-

Killing the Deerclops rewards the player with a fancy Eyeball which can be used to either build a hat that lessens the challenges of Spring & Summer, Or let’s you build an Automated Turret device (More expensive version of Winona Catapults) 

I think that an Uncompromising game, sold as an Uncompromising game.. should strive to be.. Uncompromising.

So, Killing Deerclops should force smaller versions of Deerclops to now start spawning in the world (like baby clopsies or whatever) and Winters should turn colder, perhaps needing more powerful weather proof items to survive the cold with, instead of just one heated thermal stone and calling it a day..

Perhaps killing the Deerclops could trigger a Blizzard for future Winters? Or maybe Killing Dragonfly could cause her body to absorb into the ground and magmafiy the world around her?

Instead: with the exception of CC & AFW- Fighting bosses doesn’t actually make the game any more Uncompromising, instead it more often than not- Gives you rewards that make staying alive that much easier than it would’ve been without those boss loot.

I can’t be the only one who sees how this isn’t Uncompromising can I?

You kill a boss in (insert any RogueLite game here) and your might be rewarded with new powerful gear, but you also end up being rewarded with more difficulty.

Klei is starting to add that NOW with Rifts content, but I for one would have liked to have done something like kill Krampus and end up on his Naughty List..

So sure I got his Loot Stash or Whatever- But now I also have to deal with Krampii spawning to drop kick me in the face in an attempt to steal it back.

Uncompromising.. Let’s not try to Erase this word from the franchise.

Ive fought a lot of bosses, I’ve 100% all the achievements of both DS & DST, But I don’t actually fight bosses in Subsequent playthroughs of the game: Because they make a game I want to constantly be challenged by, even easier.

Killing Dragonfly gives you Scalemail armor, but WHERE are the new fire based mobs that spawn in the world after her defeat that gives this armor a purpose?

Play the game However you like, play Sandbox mode if you want- As for me I enjoyed the single player game, I enjoyed barely surviving one chapters challenges before being thrown into another chapter Underprepared.

The game never warned you about what was coming next so if you just happened to make it to chapter 5 without the resources chapter 5 would have required you to use to survive- GG you lost, now start over from the very beginning again.

THAT is the kind of game the Dont Starve franchise once WAS, and now DST has turned that largely into something unrecognizable to me.

I love the franchise, don’t get me wrong on that, the cast of characters are all fun to play as and continue to get more interesting with each rework, re-rework and skill tree update.

But… If the main focus of the game is going to be Boss fights, killing those bosses should bring about permanent changes to every day survival in the world.

Example: You kill Moose Goose- Your Reward is a bunch of angry mini tornado babies, lightning and rainfall.

Lets not forget what type of game franchise this once was…

And I think after I’ve killed a Deerclops twice, and then killed it’s moon mutated cousin, that next season it’s entire family would come to hunt me down.

(sorry I just needed to rant for a little bit, happy holidays everyone! <3)

[Mysterious box]

I'd argue the reason many people can spend so many hours not advancing in the world is because the current design of dst doesn't really reward exploration or experimentation. Affinities are trying to fix this but I don't think it does a good job at it.

[Yuuko]

32 minutes ago, grm9 said:

why not c_spawn("moon_altar_crown")?

Same reason I always eat my vegetables before desert.

14 minutes ago, Mysterious box said:

I'd argue the reason many people can spend so many hours not advancing in the world is because the current design of dst doesn't really reward exploration or experimentation. Affinities are trying to fix this but I don't think it does a good job at it.

More like - there are plenty of things to do in the game that you don't get bored for 800 hours without even touching the "end game grind"

tbh I think the "end game grind" that so many games tack on is completely unnecessary and I don't get why players actually ask for it.  To me it can absolutely kill a game.  The BS plants are so obnoxious that it actively lessens my desire to continue.  Fortunately I only experience them for a short while before I reset to a new world anyway - Hopefully Klei doesn't make the end game even worse as this expansion continues...

[Mysterious box]

6 minutes ago, Yuuko said:

More like - there are plenty of things to do in the game that you don't get bored for 800 hours without even touching the "end game grind"

tbh I think the "end game grind" that so many games tack on is completely unnecessary and I don't get why players actually ask for it.  To me it can absolutely kill a game.  The BS plants are so obnoxious that it actively lessens my desire to continue.  Fortunately I only experience them for a short while before I reset to a new world anyway - Hopefully Klei doesn't make the end game even worse as this expansion continues...

I disagree there are things to do but your never truely rewarded for stepping outside of your box or punished for staying within it and because of that a massive amount of players never even attempt to leave that box not because there's so much to do but because there's not a good enough reason to. This isn't even related to the end game either think about it why should you go to the ocean? Why should you go to the caves? Why should you explore beyond the base biomes?

Don't let the forums fool you there's a massive amount of players who know nothing of moon quay the fact there are pirates at sea, sharks exist, what wavy Jones is, what happens on the lunar island, what happens in the ruins, what a slurper is, that there's a bat biome, what the archives are and a ton of other things. That is not because there's just so much content packed into the main island as I'm sure your aware.

[grm9]

4 minutes ago, Yuuko said:

Same reason I always eat my vegetables before desert

because of trying to keep yourself healthy ig, but crab king isn't helpful for that 

[Yuuko]

9 minutes ago, Mysterious box said:

I disagree there are things to do but your never truely rewarded for stepping outside of your box or punished for staying within it and because of that a massive amount of players never even attempt to leave that box not because there's so much to do but because there's not a good enough reason to. This isn't even related to the end game either think about it why should you go to the ocean? Why should you go to the caves? Why should you explore beyond the base biomes?

Don't let the forums fool you there's a massive amount of players who know nothing of moon quay the fact there are pirates at sea, sharks exist, what wavy Jones is, what happens on the lunar island, what happens in the ruins, what a slurper is, that there's a bat biome, what the archives are and a ton of other things. That is not because there's just so much content packed into the main island as I'm sure your aware.

Nah, I had tons of fun doing new things, and doing things differently for probably 1k+ hours before I even started tackling bosses.

I think you are looking back on a world shaped by your own dissatisfaction with the game not giving you enough sticks to make you feel bad if you aren't doing xyz thing.  This game has a LOT going on before you even start all of the boss quest chains.  It is an open sand box - its not a boss rush simulator.  Rushing bosses is definitely a thing you can do, but it is not needed for the game to be fun.

[Antynomity]

I didn't even go out of my way to defeat 90% of the game's bosses until I had around 1400 hours (around 2 years ago). You're fine.

[Evelo]

I have 2000+ hours and have defeated AFW three times and CC twice.

I just don't find it fun. The combat in Don't Starve is very very very simple and not engaging enough so I focus on survival, exploration, and mini base building until I get bored of that world after day 200 or something then start a new world.

[Mysterious box]

8 minutes ago, Yuuko said:

Nah, I had tons of fun doing new things, and doing things differently for probably 1k+ hours before I even started tackling bosses.

I think you are looking back on a world shaped by your own dissatisfaction with the game not giving you enough sticks to make you feel bad if you aren't doing xyz thing.  This game has a LOT going on before you even start all of the boss quest chains.  It is an open sand box - its not a boss rush simulator.  Rushing bosses is definitely a thing you can do, but it is not needed for the game to be fun.

I think your just placing your own assumptions on me and assuming how I play the game based on our disagreements I said multiple non boss contents and keep saying boss content isn't the way to go so how can you explain your conclusions aside from your own bias?

[Yuuko]

6 minutes ago, Mysterious box said:

I think your just placing your own assumptions on me and assuming how I play the game based on our disagreements I said multiple non boss contents and keep saying boss content isn't the way to go so how can you explain your conclusions aside from your own bias?

The non-boss content is fine.  I don't need my pig king forest to turn into an inhospitable swamp to go boating.  When I am not driven to complete the AFW / CC lines I go boating a lot, sometimes its my entire play style.  Just like playing entirely in caves, or playing without actively attacking anything - there are tons of options a player is free to explore in this game.  They don't need the game waving a stick at them to force them to do these things, just doing them can be fun enough.

[Mike23Ua]

1 hour ago, Yuuko said:

The non-boss content is fine.  I don't need my pig king forest to turn into an inhospitable swamp to go boating.  When I am not driven to complete the AFW / CC lines I go boating a lot, sometimes its my entire play style.  Just like playing entirely in caves, or playing without actively attacking anything - there are tons of options a player is free to explore in this game.  They don't need the game waving a stick at them to force them to do these things, just doing them can be fun enough.

I strongly disagree- I think the game SHOULD force the player to do things, such as needing to kill, appease or endure Antlions Sinkholes.

Or how the original Wonkey Curse forced Wendy players to stop playing as Wendy and find a way to remove the easily accumulated 40+ cursed trinkets from her inventory.

the Dont starve franchise no matter how much people try to turn it into something it’s not and never should have been- was intended to challenge you, and continue challenging you, and when you ignored something (like Antlion or Deerclops or even just Hound Waves) your “Reward” for doing so was having resources you wanted to keep be in danger- such as pig houses, or bee hives or even something as meaningless as a small fairy circle of mushrooms or Catcoon dens.

Now with both mushrooms and cat dens respawning on their own, the player doesn’t NEED to be extra cautious anymore, originally if your mush ring set fire in summer you panicked to put it out with a pail of water, ice staff, or just rolling the game back to before it happened, but NOW you can just let it catch fire saying “Eh.. it’ll grow back.”

When a Bearger spawns and licks it’s lips as it heads for your fridges and crockpots, you have to fight or lure it away or else it’s going to smash your stuff and gobble down all your food.

I feel like people focus too much on Boss Fights these days that they forget that the game world itself (it’s mobs, it’s weather hazards or just Charlie actively out to kill you..) should constantly be a lingering threat.

[_zwb]

11 minutes ago, Mike23Ua said:

1 hour ago, Yuuko said:

 

I strongly disagree- I think the game SHOULD force the player to do things, such as needing to kill, appease or endure Antlions Sinkholes.

While it's true that the game needs to pose some challenge, giving too much challenge limits the play styles players can choose from.

By giving players tasks after tasks constantly, the game would essentially force the player to play in the "most optimal" way. For example, in Hamlet the seasons are short and there are a lot of things you must do or you die, the player would end up rushing through content and finish everything very early, and each run is basically following the same formula.

I don't think the game should focus on telling players how to play the game. Wait a second, the skill trees are doing this already... Nevermind then.

 

[Mysterious box]

1 hour ago, Yuuko said:

The non-boss content is fine.  I don't need my pig king forest to turn into an inhospitable swamp to go boating.  When I am not driven to complete the AFW / CC lines I go boating a lot, sometimes its my entire play style.  Just like playing entirely in caves, or playing without actively attacking anything - there are tons of options a player is free to explore in this game.  They don't need the game waving a stick at them to force them to do these things, just doing them can be fun enough.

I don't get why you guys always jump to extremes how is making biomes more hostile going to give incentive to explore? I feel like you guys are so afraid of change you just assume the worst.

You could legit encourage exploration by doing something as simple as changing recipes for example you could make spring gear require ocean parts like ocean fish or even a rockjaw fin. Also before you start thinking I'm talking out of my butt you know what got me to engage with ocean content and even fishing? Wurt, the first time was when I needed it for the king but the major one was when the king started giving gold for ocean fish to help Wurt with her lack of access to gold. It didn't tell me to go to the other content but while I was looking for what I needed I organically ended up interacting with other ocean content in the process which is what the goal is.

Yea people don't want to be forced to do things I get that and I'm not saying they should but you should know enough that people also want a reason to interact with things beyond just because if they didn't you wouldn't see people asking for crockpot dishes to get a look this is a problem that expands all across the game you can't just pretend it's a problem with the player not the game when people bring it up simply because you think you might not like the outcome.