Dune Awakening has only been in the wild for a couple of weeks, but a surprisingly dedicated crowd has already clawed its way to the endgame. While that's usually a good sign for any MMO, it's also sparked a wave of complaints from players who feel the game's late-stage systems are tipping the scales way too far in favor of guild-based PvP. A Reddit AMA tried to smooth things over, but many players left that session feeling more frustrated than before. Now, creative director Joel Bylos has stepped up with a lengthy blog post that acknowledges the mess and lays out a roadmap of meaningful changes.
The Deep Desert has been flexing its competitive muscles a little too hard for some tastes, and Bylos doesn't mince words about it. 'Players are reporting being cut out of the endgame due to the extremely competitive nature of the Deep Desert,' he admitted. To give PvE-focused wanderers some breathing room, Funcom plans to add PvE-only zones within the Deep Desert soon. In these areas, players can poke around testing stations and harvest T6 resources without worrying about getting jumped by a rival faction. However, some hot spots will stay spicy: Landsraad control points, shipwrecks, and the biggest spice fields will remain flagged for 'War of Assassins (PvP).' So if you want the cream of the crop, you'll still have to risk a knife fight for it.
That doesn't exactly solve the solo player problem, though. At the end of the day, the top tier of Dune Awakening is balanced around guilds and coordinated groups. Solo adventurers are still looking at a mountain of grinding unless they buddy up with a guild—no bones about it. The game's current design basically whispers, 'bring friends or brace yourself.'
When it comes to PvP itself, Bylos says there are 'plenty of issues that need to be addressed.' The Scout Ornithopters have become a major headache, largely because their aerial dominance has warped how fights play out. Funcom is planning a bundle of tweaks:
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Scout Ornithopters with rocket launchers will lose some speed and maneuverability.
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Firing rockets will generate more heat, preventing non-stop spam.
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Thrusters will provide a max speed bonus regardless of wing configuration.
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A brand-new T5 infantry rocket launcher is on the way to give ground vehicles a better shot at fighting back.
It's a welcome nod for those who'd rather keep their boots on the sand than dance in the sky. 🚀
The Landsraad system, which was supposed to be the big endgame umbrella, has also drawn fire. Bylos admits the current iteration is 'the earliest launchable iteration,' with tasks dominated by item hand-ins and crafting requests. That makes life tough for solo players who can't simply throw a guild's worth of resources at a faction square. The long-term vision is more ambitious: Bylos promises the Landsraad will become 'an umbrella for all endgame activities.' That includes:
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Dungeons with bosses that drop proper endgame loot.
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More varied contracts requiring specific tasks.
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Delivery assignments with components that can't be stockpiled ahead of time.
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Potential raids, teased with a cautious 'If we ever add raids.'
So the future might hold some serious co-op spectacle, but for now the Landsraad is still a work in progress. ⚖️
On the quality-of-life side, Funcom is looking into several pain points around Landsraad stockpiling. The inability to hand in items after a square has been completed is a known sore spot, as is the lightning speed at which some squares get turned in by massive guilds. Solo and small group players will receive 'micro rewards' to soften the blow of missing out on big-group payouts. Additional changes are headed for respawn timers, vehicle storage tools, hand scanners, and 'other mechanics that we see being abused in the Deep Desert.' In other words, the devs are rolling up their sleeves to clean up exploits and rough edges, not just rebalance the endgame content.
The overarching message from Funcom is clear: the endgame of Dune Awakening is not set in stone. The team seems willing to admit when something doesn't land and to iterate quickly. That's a refreshing attitude for a survival MMO, especially one launching into an already crowded genre. Still, the proof will be in the patches. PvE players now have a concrete reason to hope for a safer slice of Arrakis, while solo grinders may finally catch a break with micro rewards and more accessible contracts. PvP fans, meanwhile, should brace for a less rocket-spammy sky.
Whether these changes will be enough to win back players who felt burned by the initial endgame remains to be seen. But at least the ball is in Funcom's court, and they're not pretending everything is fine. For now, the spice must flow—hopefully with a little more fairness for everyone.