Dune: Awakening's player-vs.-player-focused endgame is about to add a lot more elements that have players facing off against computer-controlled enemies, as developer Funcom has announced major changes coming to the survival MMO's Deep Desert region.
In a blog post on Steam, Dune: Awakening creative director Joel Bylos said "starting soon," the game's endgame Deep Desert zone will receive areas designed as PvE, or player-vs.-environment, where conflict-averse players will be able to obtain the game's highest tier of resources, something that was previously impossible without players subjecting themselves to full-scale competitive gameplay against other players.
Addressing the complaints of PvE-focused players who felt locked out of the endgame, Byblos laid out Funcom's goals.
"We want PvE players to be able to play the endgame and have access to the content of the endgame," Bylos wrote. "Our goal is not to force PvE players to interact with a PvP system that they may have no interest in."
While PvE players will now be able to venture in the Deep Desert, Bylos said those who are playing solo will find the experience grindy. The endgame will remain balanced around guilds and groups, and the most lucrative resources and spice fields in the Deep Desert will still be high-risk, high-reward PvP zones, he said.
Bylos additionally addressed the Scout Ornithopter meta that is currently dominating warfare in the Deep Desert, in which the flying vehicles have become essential to competitive play. Having recently removed the ability to deal damage to other players by ramming them with vehicles, Funcom will soon introduce even more changes to bring the all-mighty Ornithopter down a few notches. Those changes will range from bigger penalties for those who equip Scout Ornithopters with rockets, to an additional way for players to deal with the thopters in the form of a new rocket launcher. Bylos said that Ornithopters, while important, shouldn't be dominant force in PvP battles
"We have infantry and ground vehicles and air vehicles, and they're all supposed to have clear roles, clear strengths, and clear counters," Bylos said. "'Thopters will always be incredibly important for crossing the desert, but they shouldn't be the dominant force in actual battles. We're planning to make more changes to the Deep Desert to accommodate ground battles and reinforce the use of player builds."
The Landsraad, another endgame system, is set to receive changes as well. Bylos acknowledged that the system "isn't exactly in the right place," and will be updated to provide more "micro rewards" for solo players and small groups. As many of the Landsraad tasks currently revolve around turning in large numbers of resources or crafted items, the current system rewards stockpiling materials ahead of time to turn in as soon as a task is revealed. Bylos said that isn't the intention behind the system and that Funcom will be looking to make changes "best we can."
Despite endgame complaints from PvE players since its June 5 "advanced access" launch, Dune: Awakening continues to be a big success on Steam. The sci-fi survival game recently reached a new concurrent-player record of 189,000 players, according to SteamDB. Alongside endgame changes, Funcom also announced Dune: Awakening has sold one million copies, making it the fastest-selling game in the studio's history.
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In a blog post on Steam, Dune: Awakening creative director Joel Bylos said "starting soon," the game's endgame Deep Desert zone will receive areas designed as PvE, or player-vs.-environment, where conflict-averse players will be able to obtain the game's highest tier of resources, something that was previously impossible without players subjecting themselves to full-scale competitive gameplay against other players.
Addressing the complaints of PvE-focused players who felt locked out of the endgame, Byblos laid out Funcom's goals.
"We want PvE players to be able to play the endgame and have access to the content of the endgame," Bylos wrote. "Our goal is not to force PvE players to interact with a PvP system that they may have no interest in."
While PvE players will now be able to venture in the Deep Desert, Bylos said those who are playing solo will find the experience grindy. The endgame will remain balanced around guilds and groups, and the most lucrative resources and spice fields in the Deep Desert will still be high-risk, high-reward PvP zones, he said.
Bylos additionally addressed the Scout Ornithopter meta that is currently dominating warfare in the Deep Desert, in which the flying vehicles have become essential to competitive play. Having recently removed the ability to deal damage to other players by ramming them with vehicles, Funcom will soon introduce even more changes to bring the all-mighty Ornithopter down a few notches. Those changes will range from bigger penalties for those who equip Scout Ornithopters with rockets, to an additional way for players to deal with the thopters in the form of a new rocket launcher. Bylos said that Ornithopters, while important, shouldn't be dominant force in PvP battles
"We have infantry and ground vehicles and air vehicles, and they're all supposed to have clear roles, clear strengths, and clear counters," Bylos said. "'Thopters will always be incredibly important for crossing the desert, but they shouldn't be the dominant force in actual battles. We're planning to make more changes to the Deep Desert to accommodate ground battles and reinforce the use of player builds."
The Landsraad, another endgame system, is set to receive changes as well. Bylos acknowledged that the system "isn't exactly in the right place," and will be updated to provide more "micro rewards" for solo players and small groups. As many of the Landsraad tasks currently revolve around turning in large numbers of resources or crafted items, the current system rewards stockpiling materials ahead of time to turn in as soon as a task is revealed. Bylos said that isn't the intention behind the system and that Funcom will be looking to make changes "best we can."
Despite endgame complaints from PvE players since its June 5 "advanced access" launch, Dune: Awakening continues to be a big success on Steam. The sci-fi survival game recently reached a new concurrent-player record of 189,000 players, according to SteamDB. Alongside endgame changes, Funcom also announced Dune: Awakening has sold one million copies, making it the fastest-selling game in the studio's history.
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