My first day in DST

[Aalda11]

I've played a lot of regular DS so I thought I'd take DST for a spin. Running around, fighting and surviving with other people? Awesome.

 

First I login on a low populated server with just two people. I run around doing my thing but the world is big and I don't meet anyone. Then both people leave and I'm alone in the world. So I decide to move on since I wanna experience some survival cooperation.

 

I look for a server with a lot of players. I log into one with 10/20 people. I start to go through the normal routine again, you know collecting grass, sticks and flint...wait, there are no flints. Before I realize they've been probably all collected up the night comes. So I make a torch and survive the night.

 

Next day I'm pretty hungry and those few berries that I found don't help much. Plus I notice my sanity is dropping like a stone since some people are apparently dying somewhere. Finally I meet some people and their camp and ask where are the stones. Apparently way, way up north. Can't make it without the food. Now I'm really hungry. I ask to borrow some food. Some guy says sure, np. So I borrow some food then some other guy shouts at me for stealing his meat. So I give it back.

 

My hunger and sanity is very low now. I have no idea what to do. Can't find flints, can't make and axe and get wood, can't find any food, my sanity is draining very rapidly and now the puppies are after me. I have to leave so I don't die and make it even worse for all the others.

 

My question is - is DST supposed to play like that? What did I do wrong? Is it normal for me as a newcomer to ask the others to help me out in the beginning? Or am I supposed to be independent and self-sufficient? But how to do that in a highly populated server where the critical resources have been harvested in the vicinity of the spawn area and the rest is very far away?

 

Thanks!

[Habberdash]

The answer varies depending on server type, wilderness, pvp, etc. But if you're new to DST I'd recommend either Wilderness or Endless, because Survival is where you have the sanity drain for dead players. Also, you've done nothing wrong, its entirely normal to assume that things will work similarly to normal DS. Also, you should be prepared for barren landscapes on servers since most players will have already picked it clean, and to this I'm not sure what to say besides ask other players for help. Usually on endless non-pvp servers people will be pretty friendly since its more casual, so I'd recommend looking around and asking to join a camp or see if somebody can set you up with some spare materials and tools to get you started. Hope this helps 

[WhyNotWhy]

Experienced players are sick of newcomers because they expect to get fed and clothed at their expense, you have to be productive yourself. Join a server with less people on an early day so there's plenty of resources available, amass a good amount of them, explore a lot, then ask someone for partnership or build a base yourself in a convenient location (P.S. spawn is the worst place for a base). Remember the essential crock pot recipes so you don't waste food and keep aware of sanity regeneration methods (mushrooms, cactus, prototyping, glommer, jerky, gears, combat, etc.)

 

Avoid PVP servers unless you want to get killed by Wigfrid.

[applebottom]

My question is - is DST supposed to play like that? What did I do wrong? Is it normal for me as a newcomer to ask the others to help me out in the beginning? Or am I supposed to be independent and self-sufficient? But how to do that in a highly populated server where the critical resources have been harvested in the vicinity of the spawn area and the rest is very far away?

 

It's like that for "old" servers. Spawning in an old, largely populated world is hard for DST starters (I'll explain below). Try choosing servers at Day 18 or below that's in Autumn/Spring.

 

In my experience, servers with 10+ people are going to be low on supplies, with people building lots of scattered camps and competing for resources. For example, you have 6 camps which probably have an alch engine and ice box each. And all those camps probably have a chest full of flints/rocks that's just sitting there not being found by newcomers. Surrounded by 10-20 saplings and berry bushes each. O__O

 

Hoarding without the intention of building a camp to help others is stupid though. It creates a bad cycle.

 

An average/good long-time DS player like you should be able to survive with 2-3 flint and a minimum of grass/saplings, right? You can probably set off with that and find/kill your own food, get your own fuel, only coming back to borrow their crockpot and alch and even replenish their meat supply with spiders or koalefant kills. But if the old players hoard all the resources AND refuse to give you a starting help, you'll turn into another helpless player who's only waiting around camp for food and supplies. Then turn into another ghost that drains sanity. Which, congrats. They just turned a potentially helpful ally into a liability.

 

Maybe they don't see the logic in that because they're too busy building a mega-camp for themselves.... in which case they should be playing DS. Not DST. *sigh*

 

Heh, sorry about ranting. I understand why you're confused at what happened in your first DST play. It's kinda frustrating that PVE still ends up like that.

 

If you're alone in a server, give it 2-3 more days and try to build a base. When someone logs in you can be the one to welcome them to your camp and help them along. Or if you choose servers at Days 1-5ish, someone will almost always enter same time as you, then you can both talk and plan about mapping the world and delegating tasks. I made lots of DST friends this way. Good luck.

[F1sh]

Find some dedicated people to play with and play on a private server.

[Zervo]

Find some dedicated people to play with and play on a private server.

hahaha.. This!

This is definitely the correct solution

IF you have or can find people to play with tho, and someone can create a good host

My question is - is DST supposed to play like that? What did I do wrong? Is it normal for me as a newcomer to ask the others to help me out in the beginning? Or am I supposed to be independent and self-sufficient? But how to do that in a highly populated server where the critical resources have been harvested in the vicinity of the spawn area and the rest is very far away?

like others have answer above.

you did nothing wrong.

it all depends on the server you are joining in

as for me, i always told people not to took all of the flint that are on the ground. only took what you need.

because those are a crucial resource, they are not spawning and people would need it.

as for me, i regularly drop some flint near the gate whenever i pass around it.

or I'll give it straight to new comer on the server

not only flint but all of the other resource too, including food (food are usually quite plenty anyway).

but this is all depending how people act, behave and ask tho.

and you can't trust stranger in DST. they could be nice in the beginning, but a minute you turn your back.

they could burn all of your camp

[enragedcamel]

Maybe they don't see the logic in that because they're too busy building a mega-camp for themselves.... in which case they should be playing DS. Not DST. *sigh*

 

I always build my own base in a secluded corner for several reasons:

 

1. I'm what you would consider a "pro" (survived past day 300 in single-player several times) and I find it annoying to babysit newbies. IMO everyone should be required to survive for 5 days on their own before they're allowed to join a multiplayer server.
2. I tend to play a lot in one sitting, and I can't stand "investing" in other players (by giving them items, especially more rare stuff like beefalo hats) only to have them leave without dropping what I gave them. This one time a player left with all the 10+ gears we had collected, and we had only one fridge and basically had to start over.
3. When you play with groups, there tends to be a lot of freeloaders, and you usually can't tell who it is since there is no "log" of who is consuming how many resources compared to how much they are producing.
4. There is no item ownership, and the free-for-all nature of who can take items annoys me. When you go camping with your friends you don't just take and use their stuff without asking, right? Same idea here.
5. Griefers. You never know when someone in the camp will just decide to burn everything down or steal everything.

 

At the same time, I still play DST every now and then because:

 

1. Avoiding other players and dealing with the sanity drain of those who die adds another layer of challenge that is non-existent in single-player.
2. It's fun to loot corpses and salvage stuff from destroyed/abandoned bases built by others.
3. Surviving alone in the wilderness when everyone else dies gives a satisfying feeling of "survival of the fittest."
4. Occasionally, people I know and trust join the server, and I'd like to be able to have them join me in my hermit camp.

 

What I've noticed is that more and more people are taking the lone-wolf approach. If you compare the game to how it was a few months ago, there's a lot fewer group camps, and people tend to hang out by themselves or in groups of two or three. Like in Hunger Games. 

[XirmiX]

Okay, so, from my understanding you want to find some servers where:

1) There isn't a scarcity of resources around, such as flint

2) When people die they don't drain your sanity a whole bunch

3) Be able to meet up with people pretty quickly and co-operate to progress through the game

Well, I have two suggestions for you. Either:

1) Join a non-PvP Wilderness mode server with a mod active called Global Player Icons and not having too many players in the server (I'd suggest max of about 6)

Or

2) Join a non-PvP Endless mode server and with a small amount of players (about 4 max)

This is based off of what you'd seem to dislike and of what you'd like to experience in the game, so go out there and mix up your options to suit more the kind of game-play you'd want. Remember, this is if you're joining public servers and if a server you like is a dedicated server, that's even better. Private servers are always better, but public ones aren't always bad either, just a big risk of your base being griefed when playing a public one.

[Aalda11]

This is based off of what you'd seem to dislike and of what you'd like to experience in the game.

 

 

 

Well I don't have any particular preferences or dislikes, I like challenge, even PvP. The only problem I can see with DST now is the flint situation. If all the flint has been collected then you're done for since you can't make anything.

 

The commenter above said he's regularly dropping flint when he goes by the spawn portal and that's great but I don't think the devs should rely on conscious players like that. I'd suggest placing a cave entrance nearby the portal so newcomers don't have to beg others and instead go into the cave and collect the respawning stones, flint, even gold themselves.

 

Then I'd be able to handle just about anything.

[XirmiX]

Well I don't have any particular preferences or dislikes, I like challenge, even PvP. The only problem I can see with DST now is the flint situation. If all the flint has been collected then you're done for since you can't make anything.

The commenter above said he's regularly dropping flint when he goes by the spawn portal and that's great but I don't think the devs should rely on conscious players like that. I'd suggest placing a cave entrance nearby the portal so newcomers don't have to beg others and instead go into the cave and collect the respawning stones, flint, even gold themselves.

Then I'd be able to handle just about anything.

The reason I suggested Wilderness mode to you is because of the flint problem. In Wilderness mode, there is no portal; there are multiple spawn points, so getting flint would be much easier. As for having a cave nearby, that's giving a new problem for newcomers to deal with during the dusk and night; Batilisks. Also, going into a cave with just a torch isn't always a good idea.

[PandaWaffles]

The only problem I can see with DST now is the flint situation

 

When I join a server that's already been up for a while, I know resources (especially flint) will be hard to come by. You just need to know where to look for it.

 

Most players stick to the paths or around that general area; areas that are closer to the water's edge are less likely to be thoroughly searched and you can usually find a few pieces of flint around there (in mosaic, forest, and rock biomes).

 

Meteors were added to DST to sort of address this issue. Periodically, meteors will rain down from the sky and replenish the world's rock stock. They can also break other rocks as they fall down, and that results in free rocks and flint. I think meteors usually fall in turf-less rock biomes or mosaic biomes.

 

I usually just assume that I won't find any flint until about day 8-10. I live off of torches until then. I hope this helps!