Deeply Disappointed with Klei Regarding the Latest Update

[NASAZZAM]

Despite this update being a long-awaited one, only a single character received a skill tree update. I had hoped this meant Klei would put exceptional effort into WX-78 and actively incorporate user feedback. However, the reality was a severe lack of communication and the dismissal of numerous high-quality suggestions. Consequently, the Shadow Affinity was released in a highly unpolished state. If this was the intended result, I fail to see why it wasn't simply pushed to the live server from the beginning.

My frustration isn't about balance. Nor is it a debate over whether the shadow whip or the drones have a superior design (regardless of my personal preference for version 1.0). This is about the failure to implement essential fixes for the core gameplay experience.

The system where drones do not spawn automatically upon socketing an item—requiring manual crafting instead—is incredibly user-unfriendly. Furthermore, having them break when switching items creates unnecessary friction. Since they drop materials upon breaking and the crafting cost is low, this doesn't even feel like a balance decision to limit resources; it simply feels like a refusal to fix a clunky mechanic. What joy is there in forcing players to pick up dropped materials and re-craft drones every single time? If Wendy players had to re-craft the flower every time they despawned Abigail, would that be considered "fun"?

Most disappointingly, the visual issues remain completely unaddressed. A common sentiment among both shadow whip and drone supporters was that "having four drones constantly hovering is visually exhausting." There is no mechanical necessity for four separate drones. A single drone with adjusted stats based on the socketed item would have sufficed. Klei kept the Shadow Affinity in beta for a long time, yet failed to reflect even this most critical feedback. I have to ask: why?

Klei announced they would not abandon DST and would continue consistent updates. However, this current approach feels as though DST is being sidelined in favor of prioritizing DSE development. While it is hard to expect changes now that the update is live, I am leaving this post as a final expression of my remaining hope for this game.

[Reddddd]

Ok no. DSE is being developed for years now. This update was great, they added new sprites and made new stuff. DSE was probably being developed in most of the other skill trees that you probably loved. While your feedback is valid you need to understand how devs works, devs that works on skill trees probably doesnt works on DSE development, cause its a totally different branch of work. There are zero correlations on DST update qualities and DSE initial development.

It genuinely feels like you're poking at devs with your last statement and ignoring all other circuits and drones they made. Only the affinities feel lacklusting for now.

Edited Friday at 12:06 PM by Reddddd

[NASAZZAM]

54 minutes ago, Reddddd said:

Ok no. DSE is being developed for years now. This update was great, they added new sprites and made new stuff. DSE was probably being developed in most of the other skill trees that you probably loved. While your feedback is valid you need to understand how devs works, devs that works on skill trees probably doesnt works on DSE development, cause its a totally different branch of work. There are zero correlations on DST update qualities and DSE initial development.

It genuinely feels like you're poking at devs with your last statement and ignoring all other circuits and drones they made. Only the affinities feel lacklusting for now.

As someone who works in the game industry, I understand better than anyone the hard work developers put into every update; however, when a sequel or a new project begins, it is common for key personnel and resources to shift, and it’s hard to say that this has zero impact on the quality of updates for the existing project. My mention of DSE was not intended as a personal attack on the developers, but rather a sincere plea from a fan who hopes to see the high standard of DST updates maintained and wishes for the visual discomfort and clunkiness of the Shadow Affinity to be addressed even at this late stage. If user feedback could not be implemented for technical reasons, there should have at least been some form of communication; if meaningful communication or feedback integration wasn't possible, then there was no urgent need to push the live update while keeping the Shadow Affinity locked in the first place. I am not disregarding the new sprites or the achievements of the other circuits, but I am expressing deep regret that the visual fatigue issue, which was a common concern among users regarding the core "Affinity" skill, was left unaddressed in the final release.

[Deurus]

8 hours ago, NASAZZAM said:

Despite this update being a long-awaited one, only a single character received a skill tree update. I had hoped this meant Klei would put exceptional effort into WX-78 and actively incorporate user feedback. However, the reality was a severe lack of communication and the dismissal of numerous high-quality suggestions. Consequently, the Shadow Affinity was released in a highly unpolished state. If this was the intended result, I fail to see why it wasn't simply pushed to the live server from the beginning.

My frustration isn't about balance. Nor is it a debate over whether the shadow whip or the drones have a superior design (regardless of my personal preference for version 1.0). This is about the failure to implement essential fixes for the core gameplay experience.

The system where drones do not spawn automatically upon socketing an item—requiring manual crafting instead—is incredibly user-unfriendly. Furthermore, having them break when switching items creates unnecessary friction. Since they drop materials upon breaking and the crafting cost is low, this doesn't even feel like a balance decision to limit resources; it simply feels like a refusal to fix a clunky mechanic. What joy is there in forcing players to pick up dropped materials and re-craft drones every single time? If Wendy players had to re-craft the flower every time they despawned Abigail, would that be considered "fun"?

Most disappointingly, the visual issues remain completely unaddressed. A common sentiment among both shadow whip and drone supporters was that "having four drones constantly hovering is visually exhausting." There is no mechanical necessity for four separate drones. A single drone with adjusted stats based on the socketed item would have sufficed. Klei kept the Shadow Affinity in beta for a long time, yet failed to reflect even this most critical feedback. I have to ask: why?

Klei announced they would not abandon DST and would continue consistent updates. However, this current approach feels as though DST is being sidelined in favor of prioritizing DSE development. While it is hard to expect changes now that the update is live, I am leaving this post as a final expression of my remaining hope for this game.

I feel quite bad that many suggestions that were well-received by the community and received positive support will probably never be added. If you had any of them, I'd appreciate it if you could leave the link here; perhaps a modder could implement them.

[Reddddd]

6 hours ago, NASAZZAM said:

As someone who works in the game industry, I understand better than anyone the hard work developers put into every update; however, when a sequel or a new project begins, it is common for key personnel and resources to shift, and it’s hard to say that this has zero impact on the quality of updates for the existing project. My mention of DSE was not intended as a personal attack on the developers, but rather a sincere plea from a fan who hopes to see the high standard of DST updates maintained and wishes for the visual discomfort and clunkiness of the Shadow Affinity to be addressed even at this late stage. If user feedback could not be implemented for technical reasons, there should have at least been some form of communication; if meaningful communication or feedback integration wasn't possible, then there was no urgent need to push the live update while keeping the Shadow Affinity locked in the first place. I am not disregarding the new sprites or the achievements of the other circuits, but I am expressing deep regret that the visual fatigue issue, which was a common concern among users regarding the core "Affinity" skill, was left unaddressed in the final release.

Huh? You work in the game industry and believe they just be shifting people around, specially an game with paid cosmetics? Idk. Feedback is valid, but you did poke devs like they are neglecting DST because of DSE but the devs themselves said DSE has been in development for years, so we would see less and less content for years now if they did shift employees and polarized on DSE. Problem is, they are programming DSE engine not the sprites or specific skills or sprites.

In the trailer we barely saw anything, how can you say they are neglecting dst to dev dse... unnecessary imo, feedback was ok until you poked the devs 

[Dr.Webber]

Those are some good ideas for changes but also I feel like you’re being a little too harsh. Yes, it could use work but This update is pretty good. It’s definitely a good sign of them making good on their promise of using these one character updates to make better skull trees with more of focus on a single character at the time. Also just out of curiosity why do you prefer the first version of (asides the better stats which I do think should’ve been approved upon rather than detracted from?) send something robotic rather than some random shadow stuff seems much more in character and the description name and fact that the exploitolator scans stuff there’s a way better thematic job of expressing the twisted reflection of the empathy module that they were going for with the shadow/possessed atrium also the auto grabber is better than the version of shadow gathering given before. Because the version we had before only picked or collected at a time this version pics and collects at the same time

[Lord-King-Bear]

I mean it’s pretty great I love everything Klei puts out but honestly lots of requests and demands from everyone with the highest expectations. 

[NASAZZAM]

12 hours ago, Reddddd said:

Huh? You work in the game industry and believe they just be shifting people around, specially an game with paid cosmetics? Idk. Feedback is valid, but you did poke devs like they are neglecting DST because of DSE but the devs themselves said DSE has been in development for years, so we would see less and less content for years now if they did shift employees and polarized on DSE. Problem is, they are programming DSE engine not the sprites or specific skills or sprites.

In the trailer we barely saw anything, how can you say they are neglecting dst to dev dse... unnecessary imo, feedback was ok until you poked the devs 

I want to reiterate that my intent was never to attack the developers. Since we seem to be on the same page regarding the core issues, I’d prefer not to get bogged down by a minor mention of DSE. Fixating on that only obscures the main point and stalls the discussion. Let’s keep the focus where it actually matters. I’d rather discuss the actual gameplay experience and the visual mechanics that many of us found disappointing.

5 hours ago, Dr.Webber said:

Those are some good ideas for changes but also I feel like you’re being a little too harsh. Yes, it could use work but This update is pretty good. It’s definitely a good sign of them making good on their promise of using these one character updates to make better skull trees with more of focus on a single character at the time. Also just out of curiosity why do you prefer the first version of (asides the better stats which I do think should’ve been approved upon rather than detracted from?) send something robotic rather than some random shadow stuff seems much more in character and the description name and fact that the exploitolator scans stuff there’s a way better thematic job of expressing the twisted reflection of the empathy module that they were going for with the shadow/possessed atrium also the auto grabber is better than the version of shadow gathering given before. Because the version we had before only picked or collected at a time this version pics and collects at the same time

First of all, I want to clarify that I’m not criticizing the entirety of the WX-78 skill update. As I stated in my post, I believe the balancing and overall design direction are ultimately the developers' prerogative. My disappointment stems solely from the lack of acknowledgment regarding the visual discomfort, even after consistent feedback was provided during the beta.

To answer your question about version 1.0, I interpreted the concept as 'shadow energy overflowing from a heartless robot body through the connection of a Shadow Atrium.' It felt like the shadow power was surging through WX, and the VFX captured the essence of 'shadow creatures' perfectly. Most importantly, it offered excellent visibility without any intrusive objects cluttering the screen.

I understand why many prefer the drones for their mechanical aesthetic, but for me, the 'shadowy' atmosphere feels a bit watered down compared to the previous version. Perhaps my preference is also influenced by the fact that the drones have become, in my mind, a symbol of visual obstruction. Given that even those who support the drones often suggest reducing the count, I agree that the design could be quite charming if limited to just a single drone. Along those lines, I actually have no major complaints about the Auto-Grabber—it’s a solid addition.

[Lovens]

Welcome to the club. When DSE trailer dropped that pretty much explained to me the loss of quality for DST updates, as well as total ignorance towards player feedback. Even DST bugs are barely getting fixed now - the sheer amount of bugs piled up in the tracker with no response from the devs is crazy. Even something small and simple, like fixing a stupid structure placement footprint that was recently increased for no reason and made building close to that structure impossible, is not addressed even though it would have been a small and quick improvement. I didn't even bother with WX beta - I know my feedback is not valued and will be ignored anyway, why waste my time on it and get upset when they just do their thing regardless? 

I play another game, Realm Of The Mad God, and after years of ignorance of player feedback they finally hired a good community manager who makes sure players are heard. They now address every single complaint/bug report/suggestion etc in a timely manner. Even when they can't fix something or can't implement your suggestion, they still make sure it was forwarded to the dev team and they looked into it. It makes a HUGE difference, it gives me hope for the game and makes me want to play it more despite its little flaws. But when the game is flawed and the developers are also deaf to their players, it's the worst combination and really makes me just not even want to open DST anymore. Especially hearing now that it is going to be abandoned in the favor of making a new Don't Starve game. 

Edited Saturday at 09:21 AM by Lovens