[Poll] On Update Frequency and Content, v3

[GetNerfedOn]

adapted from: 

 

Edited January 22 by GetNerfedOn

[DegenerateFurry]

1 & 2. We're currently in the "less frequent" model for the update cycle and to be honest, the quality hasn't really increased all that much. Biggest exception by far was Walter's skill tree. The moon buzzards are still overpowered, them getting more time didn't fix that. They added a forced eviction of Pearl questline that was and still is highly controversial, then doubled down on it by having some post-relocation-exclusive interactions, so now you have to evict Pearl to do everything with her. Not very well thought-out writing-wise. More time seems not to have helped much, and updates aren't bigger enough in what all they add to be worth it either. It also means we've been waiting longer for skill trees. 

3. I want them to finish up skill trees starting with Warly, Webber, and Wickerbottom. That should honestly be the priority for this year, getting all characters their skill trees. I'd also, however, like to see some core mechanics changes. The biggest is that I think player-summoned bosses (Bee Queen, Toadstool, Fuelweaver, CC, etc) should have different forms of scaling that depend on how many players are present within render distance of/in the arena of the boss when it's summoned. For instance, Toad gets less health if you're solo and more if you have 3+ players, Fuelweaver will summon less wovens and do it less often solo but will have more health and do more BS with many players, BQ will vary her grumbles based on player count, you get the picture. This can be toggled in world settings. 

4. I liked Walter's skill tree quite a lot and Wendy's was neat (though I still think Team Spirit could use separate cooldowns so you could do command combos), but all the Pearl and Wagstaff stuff in the recent updates just annoys me because it fundamentally feels bad to forcibly evict an NPC we've been helping and building a relationship with. 

5. For the most part, I do agree with the more recent balancing changes in updates, moon buzzards aside. I've not actually fought the Scion yet due to disliking the whole Pearl eviction gimmick and also not often sticking with a world long enough to reach post-lunar rifts, but from the times I've fought the possessed post-lunar rifts bosses, they seem way better-designed and more fair than the A New Reign bosses. 

[Curly Bill]

What i've enjoyed alot, and they have been dipping into this here and there, are the quality of life improvements on things many people overlook, like the Character Skins now always matching skin tone colors, and the new Complimentary skin category.

I'm hoping we get more little updates with things like that. I really would like to see Maxwell's default outfit get updated to match his promotional art, as well as other things i'll probably make a thread for later. but yeah

[Cheggf]

I am torn because on one hand I do not want them to do any character updates and I hate when they do that instead of game updates, but on the other hand I hate how every skill tree sucks except for Walter's. 

[Jakepeng99]

Since they made the slower updates, don’t think the update pace changed the quality.

We sometimes get the old small updates, but a lot of the bigger ones are basically like 2 updates combined into one.

I feel like with the extra time they have, they need to think more of how what they add will change the balance of the game, how things will interact, how they will be used, and how or why a player will interact with it. That’s what I feel they fall short of.

 

The exception is the Walter update where they delayed the release for higher quality and cooler skilltrees (Though, idk if I like how Wendy changed). I’d like them to release betas earlier than usual, but make them last longer.

3 hours ago, DegenerateFurry said:

1 & 2. We're currently in the "less frequent" model for the update cycle and to be honest, the quality hasn't really increased all that much. Biggest exception by far was Walter's skill tree. The moon buzzards are still overpowered, them getting more time didn't fix that. They added a forced eviction of Pearl questline that was and still is highly controversial, then doubled down on it by having some post-relocation-exclusive interactions, so now you have to evict Pearl to do everything with her. Not very well thought-out writing-wise. More time seems not to have helped much, and updates aren't bigger enough in what all they add to be worth it either. It also means we've been waiting longer for skill trees. 

Yeah fully agree.

 

Whole Pearl thing was a mistake, and I believe locking cool stuff behind evicting her made it worse.

Why does literally everything have to be at base? Only thing not at base anymore is bosses.

[Edible Coal]

22 minutes ago, Jakepeng99 said:

Why does literally everything have to be at base? Only thing not at base anymore is bosses.

wish granted, we have holographic boss fight simulator in base as pratice

2 hours ago, Cheggf said:

I am torn because on one hand I do not want them to do any character updates and I hate when they do that instead of game updates, but on the other hand I hate how every skill tree sucks except for Walter's. 

they have to keep going, theres no turning back now, expectually when the remaining character are the ones that desperately need one in the first place

[wormwood123]

2 hours ago, Cheggf said:

I am torn because on one hand I do not want them to do any character updates and I hate when they do that instead of game updates, but on the other hand I hate how every skill tree sucks except for Walter's. 

I think that possibly what they should do is go back to the older skill trees that desperately need some changes (wormwood Wendy etc) and in the background work on them and have a separate beta branch for these skill trees and work on them and closely listen to the community (although they already do listen to the community especially with the walter skill tree) and really give these characters the time and love they deserve.

[Dr. Safety]

Unpopular opinion, but I actually like the whole Wagstaff & Pearl situation, mostly because something finally happened in the lore (I understand this is more superficial than disliking what we did to Pearl). I'm excited to see where that one Charlie cinematic from 5 month ago takes us, but someone mentioned that it's been postponed (again). I hope that this means that it will be good quality. 

Overall, I don't mind longer time between updates, but I don't want to waste any time in finishing the skill trees and progressing the story. I hope a conclusion to DST's story is on the horizon, so that the devs can focus more on the game's health and fun updates (similar to how the terraria devs have a lot more freedom since their game's story is "done")

[hyoton123]

I AM NOT PREPARED!!!

 

EDIT: Slower hasnt meant better, in my opinion. I like evicting pearl because her island sucks anyway. Finish skilltrees, finish shadow storyline (i assume), then update biomes. It’s amazing we’re still getting updates though.

Edited January 22 by hyoton123

[Mike23Ua]

1 hour ago, hyoton123 said:

I AM NOT PREPARED!!!

 

EDIT: Slower hasnt meant better, in my opinion. I like evicting pearl because her island sucks anyway. Finish skilltrees, finish shadow storyline (i assume), then update biomes. It’s amazing we’re still getting updates though.

I mean is it? The game literally just released on Switch consoles and rather sad actually… finally got the December event update YESTERDAY 

Im actually glad I stopped buying Nintendo Consoles altogether because at that point, I’d be quite pissed.

Then there’s the PS5 version (yes there’s a newly released ps5 version) and it had some serious crashing/save issues that kept the game from even being playable.

Your looking at DST as being this 11+ yr old PC game but for anyone NOT playing on PC (mainly Switch & PS5 players) it’s a newly released game that they probably bought thinking it would get a steady stream of support.

Labyrinthine just came to Xbox Series X/S this September 2025, but it’s been on PC since 2020.. For console players this is a NEW RELEASE and thank god that these Devs are acknowledging it as being a NEW RELEASE because now that the game is out on consoles, they plan to do more content for it at some point, prior to the console release however: Development on this game ceased entirely and the devs moved on to work on another game altogether. 
 

and I think that’s what Klei really needs to look at: Is DST an 11yr + Dried up PC game that’s more than ran its course? Or is it a new game that PS5 players just now are getting to dive into?

[hyoton123]

2 minutes ago, Mike23Ua said:

Your looking at DST as being this 11+ yr old PC game but for anyone NOT playing on PC (mainly Switch & PS5 players) it’s a newly released game that they probably bought thinking it would get a steady stream of support.

I think from klei’s point of view, which is ultimately what matters, it is definitely an 11 year old game.