[STEAM] Dune: Awakening Dev Funcom Is Already Testing A Radical Change to the PvP Deep Desert Experience

[Steam 0]

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You may remember that Funcom recently assured

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players in an AMA that it was

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, which players have previously branded as "toxic" due to griefing even after

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.

In a candid letter, creative director Joel Bylos said "

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," insisting "our goal is not to force PvE players to interact with a PvP system that they may have no interest in."

"We still believe in the core concept of the Deep Desert — an endlessly renewing location that resets every week and creates an activity loop for great rewards. The tension of heading out there, head on a swivel, eyes peeled for foes as you enter the most dangerous part of the most dangerous planet in the universe. Our wish was that players would embrace this loop, forming guilds to work together to overcome the bleakness of the Deep Desert."

Bylos admitted that the "extremely competitive nature" of the Deep Desert was forcing players to engage when they may prefer PvE, and consequently, "some areas" of the Deep Desert will now be flagged as "Partial Warfare (PvE)" where players can grab rare resources without getting ambushed. The largest spice fields, shipwrecks and Landsraad control points will remain "War of Assassins (PvP)" as "high reward, high risk" areas.

And now, just two days later, Funcom's already testing some pretty radical changes.

It all comes as Dune: Awakening unveils its

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, where players can try out the latest patch and features in exchange for accepting builds may have bugs or be a little unstable. As part of efforts to make the endgame more enjoyable, the PvE area near the shield wall has been expanded to cover row A, B, C, D and half of E within the Deep Desert.

Compare that to how the PvP and PvE are balanced now where only row A is PvE, and that's essentially switching half of the Deep Desert from PvP to PvE.

As

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points out, this doesn't necessarily mean this will be applied in the final game — trying out new ideas is what test servers are for, of course — but it does at least indicate that Funcom was serious about revising the endgame experience.

Dune: Awakening has enjoyed a superb launch, with a 'very positive' user review rating on Steam. Within hours of going live on June 10, Funcom's survival MMO had clocked up over

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, and

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. And it's already

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, making it Funcom's fastest-selling game ever.

We gave

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, writing: "Dune: Awakening is an excellent survival MMO that captures Frank Herbet’s sci-fi world incredibly well, mostly to its advantage and occasionally to its detriment. The survival climb from dehydrated peasant to powerful warlord of Arrakis is a joy almost every step of the way, and the story and worldbuilding filled this nerd with absolute joy. There’s still plenty for Awakening to work on though, as its combat never really hits its stride, the endgame is a bit of a chaotic mess not worth the effort."

If all that's got you interested but you're not sure where to start, make sure to check out all the

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you can choose from, and keep an eye on our

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for a step-by-step guide to the story. We've also got

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that'll help you find

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,

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,

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, and a

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to help you survive on Arrakis.

Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world's biggest gaming sites and publications. She's also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at

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