Is single player dying (dead)?

[Balter]

With the all the updates in DST and DS being nearly untouched it seems like the game has been all in all abandoned. Now personally I think single-player is amazing and I believe the majority of us like playing solo but in comparison to DST the movements feel too choppy and its like they just want it to die at this point. Do you think DS is being sidelined in favor of DST with all those multiplayer-focused updates? How do you feel about the shift in game development priorities? Is single-player still relevant today, or is it being left behind to rot?

[Auth]

13 minutes ago, Balter said:

With the all the updates in DST and DS being nearly untouched it seems like the game has been all in all abandoned. Now personally I think single-player is amazing and I believe the majority of us like playing solo but in comparison to DST the movements feel too choppy and its like they just want it to die at this point. Do you think DS is being sidelined in favor of DST with all those multiplayer-focused updates? How do you feel about the shift in game development priorities? Is single-player still relevant in today, or is it being left behind to rot?

Here's the quote from JoeW from a previous thread.

On 6/20/2024 at 11:02 AM, JoeW said:

I have said this before, and I am going to say it again.

We said we were DONE with DS after Reign of Giants, then we grabbed a team to help us and put shipwrecked together - to make fans happy. We put together Hamlet afterwards utilizing the team that was born as a result of Shiprwrecked to make the team happy and then said we were done, again. We then put out the Home Sea Home update, again - to make fans happy and again, said we were done. Because we got a bunch of requests, we hired a mod creator who made a ton of fixes for the game to join the team to get out a couple MASSIVE updates, including QOL additions from DST. 

We didn't leave it to rot. By no stretch of the imagination. You could argue that you would like us to have done more - fine. But we did more. A significant amount more. DS was "done" a long, LONG time ago.

You could argue that you can expect more because we have said we were done a bunch of times, sure. But - to treat this like we're being jerks is just silly at this point.

This is Klei's stance on singleplayer. They consider it a finished product, and DST is now intended to fully fill the shoes of being a sequel of sorts. Hope this helps.

[DegenerateFurry]

It's not dead, it's done. A good way to look at it: Don't Starve is Don't Starve 1, and Don't Starve Together is Don't Starve 2. It's a multiplayer sequel, and that means it's no surprise that it gets more attention than the first game in the series. I don't know Klei's plans after DST or even if they have any plans for a finish point for DST (and I certainly appreciate the status quo of them providing major free updates multiple times a year to keep the game alive), but I doubt we're ever going to see any major content for original Don't Starve again outside of modding communities. 

That said, it's not being left behind to rot, either. They've gone back and done a major bug fix update pretty recently, and they're providing support for it to keep it working. It's just not their focus because it shouldn't be - it's a game that's considered finished.

[marshyds]

I dont think a game should have to be fun forever to be good. dont starve has a lot of unique DLCs compared to dst anyway.

[Mike23Ua]

1 hour ago, marshyds said:

I dont think a game should have to be fun forever to be good. dont starve has a lot of unique DLCs compared to dst anyway.

Don’t Starve has TWO exclusive DLCs, but… I think this is ultimately the worst decision on Klei’s behalf to keep this content exclusive to the single player game. 
 

I have purchased DS, I have purchased DLC Shipwrecked, and DLC Hamlet, I have Purchased Dont Starve Together, I have purchased Dont Starve Pocket Edition and Don’t Starve Shipwrecked PE, I WILL Purchase DS Hamlet PE when/IF that app ever gets made…. So as far as I’m concerned I’ve more than paid my price to be able to request Shipwrecked and Hamlet DLC be added to DST.

Now before you jump down my throat- Please consider my point of view, I have spent a TON of time and money on buying, earning and unlocking all my beautiful character & belonging skins in DST.. and to go back and play Solo DS without them just to play DLC that is yet to be compatible with DST just feels.. in the nicest way I can put this- “Outdated”

Lets look at Left 4 Dead and Left 4 Dead 2 as an example- Eventually over time, L4D 2 ended up getting ALL of the Characters, modes and maps from L4D 1, which effectively “replaced” L4D 1 with L4D 2.

Another game that has done this recently has been State of Decay 2, getting the maps from SoD 1.

Or a much more accurate example: Sonic Origins Plus having a massive collection of a bunch of older games all in one updated package.

I feel like it’s time we let DS get replaced by a “complete package” & that means bring SW & Hamlet compatibility over into DST & let DST fully replace DS.

But again, I feel after having bought DS, it’s DLCs, DST & the stand alone Apps- it’s time we pull a L4D 2.

[cropo]

 Rather than import SP content to DST, I'd rather they imported DST content into Singleplayer. I like DST's caves MUCH better, I like not having to go through a load zone to get into the ruins. The caves could use some improvement still, but I still consider them more open and exciting to explore than Singleplayer. I'm glad they added things like Beefalo taming and the rebalances on many of the items. Suncaller Staff only lasting for like 2 minutes was so dumb.

But most of all I'd really like the skin system to be legitimately added to Singleplayer, I wish I could use my bought skins on the Singleplayer version.  There are mods that kind of pop up every now and then for it, but they are controller-unfriendly, limited, get banned, and require multiple mod downloads that are sometimes in Chinese.


DST doesn't need Hamlet or Shipwrecked imo, what it needs is to continue adding depth into RoG like it has been. If we consider the ocean update a DST interpretation of Shipwrecked, I would be happy for a Hamlet-interpretation update but straight up adding Hamlet seems like a waste of developer time.

Honestly? I'd literally buy them again for Singleplayer if I had to.

[Frosty_Mentos]

Singleplayer is a finished game same for it's DLCs. They don't want to distract their workforce in making more content on the game that doesn't guarantee profit unless making fun projects like they did with experimenting on making Hamlet. Hamlet is practically an unfinished feeling DLC for what the cool potential it had, but it has enough stuff and content to bring players enough assets and stuff to use for decor and play to keep them engaged in singleplayer's content.

Having three worlds and mostly everything that singleplayer has for things you can do gather and get is more than enough than one would need in there. Having all DLCs there brings a full package of content what DST has, and DST survives on making free content and bringing skins to suggest supporting devs which works really well.

Singleplayer isn't dead as long as there's interest from players to play it. It's a different experience, for me a scuffed one compared to DST's more polished gameplay, but offers adventures through few worlds and variety of menagerie to enjoy toying with.

[BezKa]

Guys, is the Mona Lisa painting dead? There weren't any updates made to it in a while. I'm starting to think the painter abandoned it.

 

[NPCMaxwell]

IT'S ALIVE!!!!

[I am not sure, but maybe a game finally "DIES" when becoming abandonware / OS / hardware needed to play it becomes outdated and rarely used, and even then I still find ways to play those games, so for me games are like the eternal fruitcake. Game industry tries to get rid of them by calling them "dead" and I still have the games scattered all over my game collection / harddrive.]

[Cheggf]

Fortnite has done irreparable damage to gamers. They can no longer think any game is finished, even if it's a singleplayer game that's more than a decade old. All games are either receiving monthly updates adding Duane Johnson to the game or they are dead and abandoned. 

[arubaro]

What means dead? Not having periodic updates like most games? 

Not every game is sold as a service neither are in a perpetual early access state

[NPCMaxwell]

34 minutes ago, Cheggf said:

Fortnite has done irreparable damage to gamers. They can no longer think any game is finished, even if it's a singleplayer game that's more than a decade old. All games are either receiving monthly updates adding Duane Johnson to the game or they are dead and abandoned. 

I've noticed this "game is dead" when not receiving updates in more then two(!) years long before I ever heard of Fortnite [not sure if this game existed back then]. But I can tell all player this story from my own gaming experience that maybe can help a bit for players to become a) more patient and b) not necessarily think of their favourite games as dead.

In case someone here knows the Rambo Video game from 2014. Well I love this game [despite it not being a good-rated game it's among my favourite games], and I thought it was super short, but still kept replaying it over and over again, definitely never expecting this game to be updated or something.

Then suddenly one day 2 years later I saw on steam that the game suddenly, probably without anyone ever expecting it, got a DLC, and the DLC was FREE! And simply awesome. It added a whole new campaign to the game that was basically a prequel.

So what do I want to say by that?

A game NOT "regulary" (monthly even???) receiving new content doesn't make it dead. There can still be random surprises. And even IF the game doesn't get updated anymore it still doesn't mean the game is dead. Games DIE when people stop getting access to them.

[ For example for ME, a Germany located user, the steam version of the game Harvester has truly been DEAD, because although being avaible on steam it was geoblocked for MY country. (not sure if it still is). Turns out I was able to still get the game with a non-German key and now I have it. So "dead or non-dead" is hard to define. Now if you TRULY can't find a game anymore, or only avaible via emulation, because the original OS / hardware you need to play it has basically died out, yes then you can definitely call the game dead. AND SURPRISE, the game can still appear again in a remastered version. So basically resurrected from the dead. Games truly ARE the eternal fruit cake, extremly hard to get rid of, because somewhere someone still cares about it. (just look at archive.org and you will see what I mean.) ]

Great example for a whole game-series to be remastered and avaible on steam, therefore not-dead is the Creatures game series.

Also Creatures is in general another good example of a game suddenly receiving attention is the docking station that was added to Creatures 3 once again 2 years after Creatures 3 was released. Even more of docking station could also be played as standalone without even needing the game Creatures 3 AND docking station was internet-compatible and therefore basically a "multiplayer expansion" of creatures 3. So a great example of a non-dead game once again.

[chirsg]

Don't Starve is dying the same way the Tyrannosaurus Rex is dying. It's on the brink of extinction. We need to save the Tyrannosaurus Rex!

[Uedo]

8 hours ago, Mike23Ua said:

Don’t Starve has TWO exclusive DLCs, but… I think this is ultimately the worst decision on Klei’s behalf to keep this content exclusive to the single player game. 
 

I have purchased DS, I have purchased DLC Shipwrecked, and DLC Hamlet, I have Purchased Dont Starve Together, I have purchased Dont Starve Pocket Edition and Don’t Starve Shipwrecked PE, I WILL Purchase DS Hamlet PE when/IF that app ever gets made…. So as far as I’m concerned I’ve more than paid my price to be able to request Shipwrecked and Hamlet DLC be added to DST.

Now before you jump down my throat- Please consider my point of view, I have spent a TON of time and money on buying, earning and unlocking all my beautiful character & belonging skins in DST.. and to go back and play Solo DS without them just to play DLC that is yet to be compatible with DST just feels.. in the nicest way I can put this- “Outdated”

Lets look at Left 4 Dead and Left 4 Dead 2 as an example- Eventually over time, L4D 2 ended up getting ALL of the Characters, modes and maps from L4D 1, which effectively “replaced” L4D 1 with L4D 2.

Another game that has done this recently has been State of Decay 2, getting the maps from SoD 1.

Or a much more accurate example: Sonic Origins Plus having a massive collection of a bunch of older games all in one updated package.

I feel like it’s time we let DS get replaced by a “complete package” & that means bring SW & Hamlet compatibility over into DST & let DST fully replace DS.

But again, I feel after having bought DS, it’s DLCs, DST & the stand alone Apps- it’s time we pull a L4D 2.

You're responsible for what you purchase Mike, it's not Klei's fault :s. If they just said 'Oh, well no' to you, that'd be it and they perhaps should. 

'So as far as I’m concerned I’ve more than paid my price to be able to request Shipwrecked and Hamlet DLC be added to DST.' <- This is absolutely offensive xD You're not entitled to anything, be real.

[Cruvimaster]

11 hours ago, Balter said:

With the all the updates in DST and DS being nearly untouched it seems like the game has been all in all abandoned. Now personally I think single-player is amazing and I believe the majority of us like playing solo but in comparison to DST the movements feel too choppy and its like they just want it to die at this point. Do you think DS is being sidelined in favor of DST with all those multiplayer-focused updates? How do you feel about the shift in game development priorities? Is single-player still relevant today, or is it being left behind to rot?

Yes, it's over.

Klei's focus is now on Don't Starve TWOgether (and other projects they want to work on).

[NPCMaxwell]

6 minutes ago, Cruvimaster said:

Yes, it's over.

Klei's focus is now on Don't Starve TWOgether (and other projects they want to work on).

And that's fine as it is The game is still alive as long as there are people playing it, and as long as the hardware/OS etc. needed for it to be played is still around and not too rare to be widely accessible.

[Mike23Ua]

39 minutes ago, Uedo said:

You're responsible for what you purchase Mike, it's not Klei's fault :s. If they just said 'Oh, well no' to you, that'd be it and they perhaps should. 

'So as far as I’m concerned I’ve more than paid my price to be able to request Shipwrecked and Hamlet DLC be added to DST.' <- This is absolutely offensive xD You're not entitled to anything, be real.

Do you play on consoles??? Do you have any idea how the world of gaming works on an Xbox? If you don’t… then I don’t mean to be rude but you have no rights to tell me what I am and I’m not entitled to..

See, because over in the “Console World” players actually ARE Entitled to certain privileges like for example: If you already owned Minecraft or 7 Days to Die (Xbox One Version) or Any of its DLC content then your “Entitled” to a generous Discount- And the more of the game that you already own- The more of a Discount you will get.

Like for Example if you already owned the Xbox 360 version of Borderlands 2- and All of its paid DLCs, then you only had to pay 5-10$ to upgrade to the Xbox One version.

GTA V (360) GTA V (Xbox One) AND GTA V (Xbox Series X/S) all did this.. and while the game didn’t have any “DLC” I still got a discount for having already owned both the Single & Multiplayer portions of the game.

The most RECENT game to do this- Released not but a week ago is 7 Days to Die (Rereleased on Xbox X/S)

So…. If Klei was to “Re-Release” a Dont starve Mega Collection for Xbox Series X/S I literally already own every piece of content that is currently available, and would actually (probably) be entitled to said discounted game price, or completely free upgrades to Next Gen.

Games with free next Gen upgrades included No Mans Sky, Fallout 76 & FO 4, State of Decay 2, & the Witcher 3.

[NPCMaxwell]

@Mike23Ua Makes a lot of sense for console players actually, since console games seem to be a bunch of way more expansive then the pc version (at least from what I can tell main reason why have a very small collection of console games only). It's already quite much of a restriction that console players have to deal with control-problems for some game content and can't use mods at all. :/ So also no mods that put part of SW and HL into DST.

[Valase]

Yeah, I killed it last week.

[Uedo]

3 hours ago, Mike23Ua said:

Do you play on consoles??? Do you have any idea how the world of gaming works on an Xbox? If you don’t… then I don’t mean to be rude but you have no rights to tell me what I am and I’m not entitled to..

See, because over in the “Console World” players actually ARE Entitled to certain privileges like for example: If you already owned Minecraft or 7 Days to Die (Xbox One Version) or Any of its DLC content then your “Entitled” to a generous Discount- And the more of the game that you already own- The more of a Discount you will get.

Like for Example if you already owned the Xbox 360 version of Borderlands 2- and All of its paid DLCs, then you only had to pay 5-10$ to upgrade to the Xbox One version.

GTA V (360) GTA V (Xbox One) AND GTA V (Xbox Series X/S) all did this.. and while the game didn’t have any “DLC” I still got a discount for having already owned both the Single & Multiplayer portions of the game.

The most RECENT game to do this- Released not but a week ago is 7 Days to Die (Rereleased on Xbox X/S)

So…. If Klei was to “Re-Release” a Dont starve Mega Collection for Xbox Series X/S I literally already own every piece of content that is currently available, and would actually (probably) be entitled to said discounted game price, or completely free upgrades to Next Gen.

Games with free next Gen upgrades included No Mans Sky, Fallout 76 & FO 4, State of Decay 2, & the Witcher 3.

You don't understand the fundamental point i'm raising, you can see my post above for the information.  You can go on as many diatribes as you fancy, but my point was singular and my opinion - it's not really a point you're going to be able to argue around. 

Increasingly i'm finding your attitude to be really rude and so unbelievably entitled. You get what you get when it comes to free content, you absolutely do not have a right to demand more free content that is suited to your particular taste (Playing devils advocate, lets say I DO feel you can make these demands, why act like you were owed something?)

If it's helpful to you, I feel your post was like this example: Someone made you a meal for free that they think you might like, you're basically sitting at the table going 'I FEEL I SHOULD HAVE STEAK! I HAVE THE VIEW THAT I AM OWED STEAK! LAST TIME I ATE I PURCHASED STEAK, THIS IS NOT STEAK, I NEED MORE STEAK AND I'VE HAD ENOUGH.' - i'd never invite you around again, literally. 

You literally said that you purchased 2 dlc's. You received the dlc's. You even enjoyed the dlc's. At what point are you satisfied mate? 

Mike, I couldn't care less what other games are doing, I just couldn't. You're acting like a brat.

And yes Mike, sometimes I play DST on a console. Stop putting qualifiers in every point you make, you don't have a good point on this and you always argue in bad faith. If you wanna keep going round in circles with this - YOU have no right to dictate how I found your attitude, whether you own a console or not :P

3 hours ago, Mike23Ua said:

So…. If Klei was to “Re-Release” a Dont starve Mega Collection for Xbox Series X/S I literally already own every piece of content that is currently available, and would actually (probably) be entitled to said discounted game price, or completely free upgrades to Next Gen.

Games with free next Gen upgrades included No Mans Sky, Fallout 76 & FO 4, State of Decay 2, & the Witcher 3.

Ah I understand now, you already own Hamlet and Shipwrecked for DST? You know the completely separate game from DS. How did you get it?! Secret xbox batman lego beta code? :O

[Mike23Ua]

I’ll go over this one more time..

Players of DS on PC & PlayStation had to buy Reign of Giants as a Paid DLC expansion pack.

Players on Xbox got this DLC included as always being a core base part of the game when purchasing the game.

Players on PC, Xbox and PlayStation had to purchase Shipwrecked as a paid DLC expansion pack, Players on Nintendo Switch got the Shipwrecked DLC included as part of their core purchase.

And the DST got the RoG DLC for free as well included as a base core part of the game.

Theres never been a version of DS/DST on Xbox & Switch that did NOT come with Wigfrid & Webber, and for something PC & PlayStation knows as Extra DLC content- The other platforms only ever knew as being a core base part of the game.

I should also probably mention how PC players get a lot of “Freebie” Benefits, like NOT having to pay 15$ for DST and getting that Free from having played the Multiplayer Beta for DS, or purchasing Hamlet and instantly unlocking Wormwood in DST alongside that purchase.

Its confusing… but I speak truths.

 

[ChintzyGnat]

15 minutes ago, Mike23Ua said:

I’ll go over this one more time..

Players of DS on PC & PlayStation had to buy Reign of Giants as a Paid DLC expansion pack.

Players on Xbox got this DLC included as always being a core base part of the game when purchasing the game.

Players on PC, Xbox and PlayStation had to purchase Shipwrecked as a paid DLC expansion pack, Players on Nintendo Switch got the Shipwrecked DLC included as part of their core purchase.

And the DST got the RoG DLC for free as well included as a base core part of the game.

Theres never been a version of DS/DST on Xbox & Switch that did NOT come with Wigfrid & Webber, and for something PC & PlayStation knows as Extra DLC content- The other platforms only ever knew as being a core base part of the game.

I should also probably mention how PC players get a lot of “Freebie” Benefits, like NOT having to pay 15$ for DST and getting that Free from having played the Multiplayer Beta for DS, or purchasing Hamlet and instantly unlocking Wormwood in DST alongside that purchase.

Its confusing… but I speak truths.

 

Are you saying Xbox is superior or something? I don't see why this is relevant at all. 

[Uedo]

29 minutes ago, Mike23Ua said:

I’ll go over this one more time..

Players of DS on PC & PlayStation had to buy Reign of Giants as a Paid DLC expansion pack.

Players on Xbox got this DLC included as always being a core base part of the game when purchasing the game.

Players on PC, Xbox and PlayStation had to purchase Shipwrecked as a paid DLC expansion pack, Players on Nintendo Switch got the Shipwrecked DLC included as part of their core purchase.

And the DST got the RoG DLC for free as well included as a base core part of the game.

Theres never been a version of DS/DST on Xbox & Switch that did NOT come with Wigfrid & Webber, and for something PC & PlayStation knows as Extra DLC content- The other platforms only ever knew as being a core base part of the game.

I should also probably mention how PC players get a lot of “Freebie” Benefits, like NOT having to pay 15$ for DST and getting that Free from having played the Multiplayer Beta for DS, or purchasing Hamlet and instantly unlocking Wormwood in DST alongside that purchase.

Its confusing… but I speak truths.

 

.... I was misunderstanding for comic effect.

Mike, nobody ever seems confused by the content of what you say. They just get confused as to WHY you're saying it. You're not as convincing as you seem to think you are. L take.

I've purchased all of them at points. I'm not crying about it.

14 minutes ago, ChintzyGnat said:

Are you saying Xbox is superior or something? I don't see why this is relevant at all. 

I think he's feel sad that PC players have had perks that consoles haven't.... it's not relevant but I understand what he's saying. 
It's just one them things i'm afraid :P Stuff happens and not all things are weighted equally. 

He could buy a PC but that's a conversation that has been had multiple times over many years with him, there's little point. He likes coming on the forums to complain - he owns a console but posts in this section of the forums as opposed to the console side of things. Some people are just querulous, if it makes him happy it makes him happy at least

[benfroyobro9381]

1 hour ago, Uedo said:

.... I was misunderstanding for comic effect.

Mike, nobody ever seems confused by the content of what you say. They just get confused as to WHY you're saying it. You're not as convincing as you seem to think you are. L take.

I've purchased all of them at points. I'm not crying about it.

I think he's feel sad that PC players have had perks that consoles haven't.... it's not relevant but I understand what he's saying. 
It's just one them things i'm afraid :P Stuff happens and not all things are weighted equally. 

He could buy a PC but that's a conversation that has been had multiple times over many years with him, there's little point. He likes coming on the forums to complain - he owns a console but posts in this section of the forums as opposed to the console side of things. Some people are just querulous, if it makes him happy it makes him happy at least

I agree that single player "dying" is fine but saying you should buy another console is wild. It's an argument that ppl use way too much to justify the flaws of another platform without fixing them. It's like if a car you bought has barbed wire wrapped around the steering wheel, sandpaper chairs, but it's your fault for not buying a Ford or whatever. Also idk how this "section" of the forums isn't allowed for consoles. I may've misinterpreted you, but there's no need for gatekeeping. This discussion has nothing to do with any platform! Regardless, I think it's okay for Klei to leave single player behind. It's a finished product that got plenty of love and should be put to rest, unless Klei says otherwise. 

[Echsrick]

cant be dying if allready dead