Year of the Dragonfly: The good, the bad & feedback [OPINION]

[Wumpair]

Hello people!

So Klei released a new update and the forums are on fire… Well, nothing new tbh, but this time I see a lot of negativity! And some of it I can relate with, but man people are mad! So, as a member of my community I would like to express my opinion too, in a constructive way – reflect on the good, the bad, and provide some feedback to the actual game-play aspect.

The good:

- I can see people disagree with my opinion, but I think the mini-game itself is fun. I think it is much better than the one from last year, and better than most of the mid-summer carnival mini-games. The best event from the Chinese calendar was the carrat-race (aside from the buffalo year that impacted the game outside the event), and this year is basically carrat-race but on water.

- More ocean content is good. The ocean is empty, players don’t like to explore it. Guess what you need to solve this issue? More ocean content. Rome wasn’t build in a day; adding things like Sharkboy from last update, or this mini-game is what fills the empty ocean piece by piece. And I know people want more content like a new island, while others just won’t accept that the DST ocean is not SW; I also would love to have new islands and enjoy the SW mechanics, but I think you should admit that Klei took a different route and more ocean content is better for the game. DST has a problem, adding new things can break the fragile balance of the old mechanics – but the ocean is there to be filled with stuff, and I think it is great Klei still adds chunks to it, and hasn’t fully given up on it.

The bad:

- The most major criticism: The event has little to do with Dragonfly. That is true, and it did make me a little sad. Still there is a plenty of dragonfly-esq imagery in game: The little dragon that follows you as you race, the colour palate for the boat equipment… As many people I also though that DF would be more involved in the event, but I don’t think that it is constructive criticism to say “DF not in update = Update bad”. I see your point, but I don’t think that is a healthy way to look at this update.

- The dragon-boat races happen in real life in a different time of year. And also moon-cake introduced last year is linked to another festival. And I see how this could bother some Chinese players. Regardless, I think we should see the DST Chinese-New Year event more like a tribute to Chinese traditions; in a way it teaches non-Chinese players the culture of China in a fun way, and I think it is rather a good thing than a bad one.

Feedback:

- I think that the check-points shouldn’t have collision with the boat, it would make it much more fun! The number of boat leaks I got from crashing into them is insane, and I think it will be the case for others too.

- I think Klei should increase the amount of golden nuggets awarded for completing the course. The lengthy course I did that I show in the screen-shots only gave me 9 gold nuggets as a reward! That is not even enough for the boat-kit with the oar-sail-anchor!

Screen-shots <3

This is my boat-race! Although the monkey game a fair fight at the start, he could not keep up with me after the barnacle-section of the course (for smaller courses I think his speed is fine, you expect it to be difficult when it is this long) XD

[BalkanCockroach]

1 hour ago, Wumpair said:

More ocean content is good. The ocean is empty, players don’t like to explore it. Guess what you need to solve this issue? More ocean content. Rome wasn’t build in a day; adding things like Sharkboy from last update, or this mini-game is what fills the empty ocean piece by piece

It's not content that's solving anything. After the event it's only active if you turn it on. Also tribute using coal instead of ash kinda bothers me. DRAGONFLY LIKES ASH NOT COAL THEY COULD'VE MADE IT SO IT DOESN'T BLOW AWAY IN THE TRIBUTE ;(

Edited February 9 by BalkanCockroach

[mykenception]

30 minutes ago, BalkanCockroach said:

Also tribute using coal instead of ash kinda bothers me. DRAGONFLY LIKES ASH NOT COAL THEY COULD'VE MADE IT SO IT DOESN'T BLOW AWAY IN THE TRIBUTE ;(

almost as if the event had nothing to do with dragonfly in the first place

[Mike23Ua]

I wouldn’t call boat racing new ocean content, I mean yeah it’s a thing.. and it’s there I guess, just like how you can build race courses for Carrats or Even Beefalo using Hitching posts/Boat masts if your into that.. 

But this is content you the player add to the world yourself and isn’t naturally spawning content that just- Exists..?

Okay for example: New Event has Water Bouys right? That’s cool I guess… but why aren’t their reskinned Bouys already in the Ocean (such as a floating barrel stuffed with Bananas) that help players pinpoint the location of Moon Quay?

I spend A LOT of time in deleting my worlds and starting over…. And anyone who does that, can tell you trying to locate the tiny island that is Moon Quay every time- is a pain the rear end.. it’s hours literal hours of searching empty ocean, until you luck up on the island..

Bouys exist in a boat racing mini game, that’s great I guess… But they’ll only help me to place way points towards the island after I’ve ALREADY FOUND IT AND CAN JUST LOOK AT MY MINI MAP to go back & fourth.

(Yes I’m angry lol, sorry.. trying to find Moon Quay is frustrating)

[Valase]

The DFly shrine looks like a carrat with giant googly eyes

[BalkanCockroach]

2 hours ago, Valase said:

The DFly shrine looks like a carrat with giant googly eyes

It does! And the small one.

[MasterDos]

Thank you for this review of the new update. I finally saw an adequate adult who sees the real advantages of a free update and some illogical decisions of the developers. But at the same time, he does not cry in the comments of the forum like a small child who was not presented with a change in the fight with a Dragonfly. You have a very steep track, I'll try to do something similar))

[dzzydzzy]

14 hours ago, Wumpair said:

 I think we should see the DST Chinese-New Year event more like a tribute to Chinese traditions; in a way it teaches non-Chinese players the culture of China in a fun way, and I think it is rather a good thing than a bad one.

Just so you know, the Lunar New Year is a celebration that is massive amongst many different Asian cultures, not just China. And calling it Chinese New Year is a tad bit exclusive. I've gotten used to just saying Lunar New Year to be more inclusive. And especially in regards to DST where they don't say "Christmas" or "Halloween" but instead "Winter's feast", and "hallowed nights", I think it makes more sense to call this event "Lunar New Year" or just "Year of the _____".

[ShadowDuelist]

I think the boat races thing was something that had to be added at some point, it is a great idea really, specially for long lived games.
It was just executed at a moment when everyone was expecting something else (a dfly rework or something DF related)

Edited February 10 by ShadowDuelist

[_zwb]

8 hours ago, dzzydzzy said:

Just so you know, the Lunar New Year is a celebration that is massive amongst many different Asian cultures, not just China. And calling it Chinese New Year is a tad bit exclusive. I've gotten used to just saying Lunar New Year to be more inclusive. And especially in regards to DST where they don't say "Christmas" or "Halloween" but instead "Winter's feast", and "hallowed nights", I think it makes more sense to call this event "Lunar New Year" or just "Year of the _____".

Dragon in"year of the dragon" literally originates in China

[Jakepeng99]

2 hours ago, ShadowDuelist said:

I think the boat races thing was something that had to be added at some point, it is a great idea really, specially for long lived games.
It was just executed at a moment when everyone was expecting something else (a dfly rework or something DF related)

Would make more sense for year of the monkey.

[Mike23Ua]

7 hours ago, ShadowDuelist said:

I think the boat races thing was something that had to be added at some point, it is a great idea really, specially for long lived games.
It was just executed at a moment when everyone was expecting something else (a dfly rework or something DF related)

There’s a Boat Mast, that has a photo of a RockJaw Shark on it- This one’s mast should have had a photo of Dragonfly on it.

These “Masts” can still be placed on Dry Land, so they also serve as really cool Base Flags, or if upgraded with the Deck Illuminator- Some really cheap street lamps.

I actually Like the funky bug eyed Dragonfly themed street lamps.

But I feel like even these: are a missed opportunity to do something awesome.

(I really love the little dragon spitting flames into the air.. if THOSE could have been turned into base Torches kinda like the night light, Year of the Dragonfly would’ve been a whole lot more awesome.)

This feels like another case of Klei adding new content to their game, but not using it to its full potential..

Sure, it looks cool as a “Racing Start” signal, but it would’ve looked better as something like the pigmen torches.

Also rather hilariously: This also exists-

Which is closer to a Dragon event than what we got now.

Klei should have made both the above conductor skin, and bearded dragon GlomGlom weaveable/earnable/purchaseable throughout this year of the Dragonfly event..

[dzzydzzy]

On 2/10/2024 at 9:44 AM, _zwb said:

Dragon in"year of the dragon" literally originates in China

[voyager156]

On 2/9/2024 at 4:56 PM, Wumpair said:

The good:

 

- I can see people disagree with my opinion, but I think the mini-game itself is fun. I think it is much better than the one from last year, and better than most of the mid-summer carnival mini-games. The best event from the Chinese calendar was the carrat-race (aside from the buffalo year that impacted the game outside the event), and this year is basically carrat-race but on water.

For me personally it is not fun. I understand that you on the other hand can like it.

But in this "fun" race characters can just die (sink).

[Jakepeng99]

16 minutes ago, voyager156 said:

For me personally it is not fun. I understand that you on the other hand can like it.

But in this "fun" race characters can just die (sink).

They should make a shadow hand save you from drowing if you fail.

[goblinball]

On 2/9/2024 at 12:23 PM, BalkanCockroach said:

It's not content that's solving anything. After the event it's only active if you turn it on. Also tribute using coal instead of ash kinda bothers me. DRAGONFLY LIKES ASH NOT COAL THEY COULD'VE MADE IT SO IT DOESN'T BLOW AWAY IN THE TRIBUTE ;(

Chill man it’s no big deal lol

The tribute using coal makes perfect sense when you consider that the scaled furnace costs coal to craft and there’s a handful of burnt charcoal trees around the dfly arena

really it barely matters if it’s charcoal or ash I dont understand why you’d care so much 

[BalkanCockroach]

1 minute ago, goblinball said:

there’s a handful of burnt charcoal trees around the dfly arena

There's a handful of grass around bunnymen hutches but you put carrots. 

 

2 minutes ago, goblinball said:

I dont understand why you’d care so much 

I don't, it was an exaggeration maybe should've been clearer.