Update: Surprise! Rather than making that big change to Deep Desert PvP "in a few weeks," as Funcom originally said, the update went live to all servers today. The Deep Desert is now evenly split, with full PvP only enabled on the northern 50% of the map. The southern half of the map is now PvE, with "pockets of PvP" only at control points and shipwrecks.
Funcom also says it has "rebalanced resources" so spice, minerals, and more valuable loot can be found in increased density the further north players travel.
The top speed of scout ornithopters armed with rocket launchers has been decreased by 20%. You can read more about the update here.
Original story: PvP is the most controversial part of survival MMO Dune: Awakening, and players haven't been shy about airing their grievances. The massive endgame zone, the Deep Desert, is the only place to find spice in large quantities and endgame-tier resources, and some players aren't happy that it's dominated by PvP combat that mostly takes place via ornithopters armed with rockets.
Earlier this week, in response to negative player feedback about the PvP-dominated endgame, Funcom creative director Joel Bylos announced that changes were being made, saying "some areas of the Deep Desert will now be flagged as 'Partial Warfare (PvE)' areas"—which would allow players to harvest spice and tier 6 resources without fear of other players ganking them via chopper.
By "some areas," Bylos may have undersold it. On Dune: Awakening's new public test client, which Funcom announced today, the Deep Desert has been heavily overhauled: the endgame zone has gone from being about 90% PvP to a mere 50%.
That's a big shift. Currently in Dune: Awakening, when you're in the 9x9 Deep Desert grid (composed of rows A through I), row A is the only PvE zone, with rows B through I full-on PvP. That's only 9 of 81 grid squares tagged for PvE.
But on the new public test client, rows A, B, C, D, and half of E are now PvE only, a full 50% of the map. Players can now mine spice and other endgame resources without the threat of other players shooting them down, and if you want to reach the PvP zone, you'll need to fly to the northern half of the desert.
To be clear, this drastic change might not make it to the actual game. The public test server is for, well, testing. But it shows Funcom is taking the feedback seriously, even though it's quite a departure from the endgame the developers envisioned.
Personally, cutting the zone down to 50% PvP feels like an overcorrection to me: Despite mostly getting shot down and blown up in the Deep Desert, I enjoy the danger of it all. I was expecting a bit of extra space in the region to be converted to PvE-only, but not a full half of the map.
We'll see how test players like it, and if the change is brought over to the main game, as Bylos said, "in a few weeks." For now, read the full patch notes for the public test client here.
