Funcom recently announced big changes to Dune: Awakening after players felt it had a hard endgame. The devs agreed that players feel left out of the endgame because of how competitive stuff in the Deep Desert is.
Creative Director Addresses Player Concerns
The game’s creative director, Joel Bylos, made a lengthy statement about how the studio is working to improve the game. The dev team wants the PvE players to enjoy the endgame content without being forced into unwanted PvP scenarios.
Bylos said that the team remains behind the idea of Deep Desert being a weekly resetting place where cooperation can happen for valuable rewards; however, they believe the implementation falls short. He said that one of his expectations hasn’t appeared as per his wish, which is the fact that a very competitive atmosphere chased away players who would like other gameplay style choices.
Deep Desert Zone Changes Coming
The upcoming changes will introduce Partial PvE zones in the Deep Desert, allowing players to gather rare resources without being ambushed by other players. Nonetheless, the richest places will remain War of Assassins (PvP) zones. This includes major spice fields, shipwrecks, and the Landsraad control point
Bylos pointed out that the game has been balanced around guilds and groups, which means solo players should expect to grind more regardless of the zoning type.
Ornithopter Combat Adjustments
Due to complaints about Ornithopter griefing tactics, many vehicle balance changes will be made.
Scout Ornithopters armed with rocket launchers will move and turn slower. These vehicles will be limited in their sustained combat capabilities due to the increase in heat generated by rocket attacks. Scouts with thrusters will be the fastest vehicles, regardless of wing. A new level 5 soil infantry rocket launcher will be added to enhance anti-vehicle combat options.
Bylos made it clear that the Ornithopters are still necessary to cross the desert but should not be in the actual combat.
Landsraad System Improvements
Landsraad system, which Bylos described as an umbrella for all endgame activities, will see massive updates. The system includes dungeons and contracts along with unique delivery missions that are meant to drive faction conflict and internal guild politics.
The director stated that the Landsraad should have daily objectives and weekly objectives for all players with PvE or PvP preferences.
While the game system of daily and weekly quests is an old one, Funcom attempted to marry the whole Dune politics thing together with a quest system where players earn votes from the different Landsraad houses.
Stockpiling reward system which was not part of the original design will be fixed shortly among other design issues in fixes.
Strong Launch Performance
Dune: Awakening saw a highly successful launch despite endgame issues. The game’s user review rating on Steam is listed as “very positive” and it had over 142,000 concurrent players just hours after its launch on June 10. Earlier this month, the simultaneous players peaked at almost 190,000, while the one million mark was exceeded, making it Funcom’s fastest seller.
Looking Forward
Bylos ended his statement with a reminder that live games depend on regular collaboration between developers and players to achieve their real potential. The team is committed to open communication and wants to make Dune: Awakening fun for every type of player.
The survival MMO gets an 8/10 review score. The MMO is an excellent attempt at recreating the world of Frank Herbert with well-honed gameplay. Players will see progression from a struggling survivor to Arrakhis-born warlord. Since the combat mechanics need some improvements and the endgame content will be improved, it is updating them now.
The changes coming soon are a reaction to community feedback. Furthermore, Funcom is trying to balance “competitive elements” with making things accessible to all kinds of play.
Read more about Dune: Awakening.