Pours one on the curb for Don't Starve

[dawnraider]

Wow. That's really nice to see them take a step back and make sure everything is polished before continuing on with things. If only Mojang would do this...

[Gunnerman21]

Even though I don't play Don't Starve, this is wonderful news! Finally hearing of developers being set back on track to follow the true gameplay path is music to my ears :) No matter how devilish FC's ideas are about things he puts in btw, I will always see him as The One. The developer that knows exactly how games should be made and played.

Thank you once again FC :)

[Taleric]

I decided to give this a go after the stuff of nightmares update. The character rebalancing was nice and the caves/ruins work a little better.

Getting to the new goodies in the ruins took a bit but I really enjoyed it! The one thing DS always has going for it is the enveloping atmosphere; the music, ambient sounds and visuals really draw you in to get your heart going.

The game still needs this next big touch up to be more cohesive. Now back to the adventure mode grind.... I get so close again and again lol...

[casinodoug]

newest update made the game good again :D think you might like it fc

[FlowerChild]

newest update made the game good again :D think you might like it fc

I've been following their updates, and have been tempted to boot this one up man, but I think I'm going to wait for the last release (which I believe is the next one) before diving back in.

At present, from what I've read, it looks like the caves still have no point whatsoever, even if permadeath is active. I'm hoping the last release fixes that.

[Daisjun]

FC, I read through your posts on the thread and I empathise completely.

I had the exact same experience with Team Fortress 2. I absolutely adored the game when it was released, it was beautifully balanced. Then they started upgrading the classes one by one. This meant that not only were people spamming the classes in order to grab achievements and unlock weapons, every other class would become horribly unbalanced and it totally sucked the fun right out of the game. It turned into a complete cluster funk and I stopped playing.

It highlighted two things for me, firstly, as you say, new content does not always equal a better gameplay experience. Often it can cause the complete opposite. And secondly, why don't more gamers stand up against this BS? Video games seem to be the only format where this is acceptable, I mean, if you bought a red shirt a month ago and you go to put it on, then all of a sudden the manufacturer decides to break into your house and dye it blue because they think that's what you want, you'd be a tad miffed. You pay valuable consideration for something as it is at the time you bought it, because that's what you wanted. Imagine if an author decided to re-write your favourite book, or you watch through a whole movie only to find out the ending's changed, I mean, that'd be insane, yet when it comes to games, we're expected to take it in the rear whether we like it or not.

This is why I've never been a big fan of the concept of steam, I mean, I understand that when you purchase digital content, whether it be online or on a disc, you only own the right to access it, but not the actual content itself. But with steam it feels like you have absolutely no control over what you've paid good money for. The fact that console gaming appears to be going the same way makes me bemoan it even more. And that's why that 'don't like it, don't play it' mentality really erks me. You pay a certain amount of money for something of value, and new features that make you not want to use it, seriously devalue what you've paid for.

[FlowerChild]

And secondly, why don't more gamers stand up against this BS?

Well, I think a lot of times it's done in response to player requests/demands for more content. "More balance" isn't exactly something most players can get behind, and as I often say: players aren't designers.

Often times I think the original designers of a game have moved onto other things by the time a game hits the continual update cycle, or have been so battered by the fan base that the fight has gone out of them and their original vision gets muddled.

You see how quick I am to say "fuck off" to requests for more mobs, more blocks, or more whatever. It's entirely the wrong reason to add things to a game as you're basically providing solutions to non existent problems, and then left scrambling to try and provide ad hoc justifications for that.

I think DS caves have become a big time example of this. A couple of months ago I went on a "wtf is the point of caves?" rant on the DS forums, and I think I hit the nail on the head. One more release to go and I think it's becoming pretty obvious that the designers never had any clear gameplay purpose for them in mind. They're just more, and what I think to be extraneous, content.

I'm hoping they manage to pull a rabbit out of their hat with the last release which is why I'm waiting to play it again, but I'm also not particularly hopeful that they will.

[JakeZKAM]

I dunno man TF2 has a habit of balancing it's new toys out and it's been awhile since a large amount of weapons have actually been added. And in the end it's usually stock that's the easiest to use and most effective/not situational. Also it's a completely multi-player/Free to play experience, and without updates it would slowly die.

As far as the usefulness of caves, so far the main draw seems to be the "Riches" deep within that make extremely powerful gear. Some of which I find way too well powerful. Oh and Bunnymen are more useful than pigmen for spider farms.

Edit: Grammar

[eternal8phoenix]

And secondly, why don't more gamers stand up against this BS? Video games seem to be the only format where this is acceptable, I mean, if you bought a red shirt a month ago and you go to put it on, then all of a sudden the manufacturer decides to break into your house and dye it blue because they think that's what you want, you'd be a tad miffed. You pay valuable consideration for something as it is at the time you bought it, because that's what you wanted. Imagine if an author decided to re-write your favourite book, or you watch through a whole movie only to find out the ending's changed, I mean, that'd be insane, yet when it comes to games, we're expected to take it in the rear whether we like it or not.

Actually, sorry to say that video games are not the only thing that gets hit by this...happens all the time with film re-releases. God only knows how many "Han/Greebo shot first" arguments there are, to take Star Wars as an example. At least they can't/don't update existing copies of films...
But I totally agree, different =/= better every time.

[Daisjun]

I dunno man TF2 has a habit of balancing it's new toys out and it's been awhile since a large amount of weapons have actually been added. And in the end it's usually stock that's the easiest to use and most effective/not situational. Also it's a completely multi-player/Free to play experience, and without updates it would slowly die.

I agree that after all the major updates, it's now somewhat balanced, but it certainly wasn't for quite a while. Also it wasn't always free.

And what you say isn't necessarily true. I mean look at games like CS, SC, Diablo etc. People played them for years without any kind of major updates. Just because something doesn't change, doesn't mean it doesn't have a long shelf life. In effect, designers should be looking to create games that continually create unique experiences and keep people engaged from the outset, without having to resort to substantially modifying the substratum of the game later down the line.

Well, I think a lot of times it's done in response to player requests/demands for more content. "More balance" isn't exactly something most players can get behind, and as I often say: players aren't designers.

You're right, and I guess that what it comes down to in the end. We're always going to be in the minority and unfortunately new content appears to be expected rather than warranted.

Also sorry for taking things massively off topic :) I did play DS prior to the caves update, the sense of urgency and fear was fantastic, much like in BTW. From what I've read this new update sounds highly disappointing and it hasn't convinced me to load it back up again any time soon.