As I’ve gotten older, and my backlog has gotten bigger, and my wallet has gotten thinner, I’ve developed a decent amount of resistance to FOMO, but sometimes even I slip.
In the case of Dune: Awakening I’m going to blame Scopique and Tipa, as well as the fact that we watched the Dune Prophecy TV series not too long ago, and the Dune movies over the past two weekends. Basically Dune is everywhere and the game looked like it was something I’d enjoy. I was going to wait for a sale or whatever, but Scopique rented a private server and told me I’d be welcome so I figured this was a case where getting in early when others were psyched made pretty good sense.
So far, no regrets. I’m having a really good time. My biggest source of concern is, where should I play?
I started on Scopique’s server which has been great, but quiet. There’s a dozen or so of us, I guess, but so far I’ve seen 1 other player and they flew in and out of my field of view so fast that I didn’t even see who it was. The pros are that there’re plenty of spots for base building, friendly-if-mostly-unseen neighbors who’re constantly offering help to others (so far I haven’t needed it, but that time is probably coming) and absolutely zero drama. The only real con is that it feels mostly like a single player game so far, but I’m not even sure if that is a con (there is no actual single player mode in Dune: Awakening). Also that might change if/when I catch up to where everyone else is hanging out. For now I see giant bases but no players.
Just for comparison sake, after I’d gotten myself established on the private server I rolled a character on a Medium-busy public server. And guess what? I haven’t seen another player there, either, but I do ‘hear’ them talking about end game stuff which I’ve enjoyed. And I’ve found abandoned bases that I could claim for my own. It’s kind of interesting to see what others started building before they drifted away to sandier pastures. In theory if I ever wanted to get into the PvP stuff, that happens on the Public servers, though normally that isn’t really my thing. The big con on the public servers is that Funcom is in an arms race against hackers and I guess every time they patch an exploit another one is discovered, to the point where people are having their bases robbed in PvE zones. Hasn’t happened to me but frankly I don’t own anything worth stealing yet. But that is, for now, a pretty huge Con if ever there was one. The other con is that I don’t know anyone on this server so if/when I get to areas that I can’t solo, I’ll be dead in my tracks unless I PUG which is generally a source of great anxiety to me.
So I’ll probably stick to Scopique’s private server to take advantage of this nice little pocket of friendly players; I’m sure at some unplanned but inevitable future time after I’ve moved on to some other game and decide to circle back to Dune, long after the Private server has been retired, I can try life on a Public server. Or maybe Funcom will have introduced a single player local server by then.
As to the gameplay itself, if you’ve played Conan Exiles you’ll have a pretty good idea of what you are getting into. There’s combat of course, and as you level up you earn points you use to unlock recipes for crafting things. There are also skill trees grouped into various classes that you can unlock as you play. The world is, well, Arrakis: lots of sand dunes interspersed with rocky outcroppings where some sparce plant life clings to existence. They call these ‘islands’ and traveling between them is dangerous due to sand storms and sand worms. If a sand worm eats you, that is it. I mean you respawn but apparently you respawn naked and with an empty backpack. Combat deaths are not nearly as unforgiving; you drop something, though I’m not sure what. I’ve only died once and never got back to see what I’d dropped. Early days!
The big hook, of course, is water. Early on, at least, water is a constant concern. You get most of it by draining the blood of your fallen enemies and processing it back at basecamp to turn it into potable water. Yeah, it’s gruesome and this is a violent world. Few NPCs want to talk and I’ve yet to meet one who is willing to back down from a fight.
So far I’m built several bases (and abandoned one), built a sand bike — basically a snowmobile only with 2 treads where the ski would be, and 1 tread in the back [see image at the top of this post] — and am working my way up the tech tree. It is still a thrill when I’m making my way across the dunes and a sandworm is coming for me, and there is just a TON out there for me to explore.
So yeah, FOMO got me, and I’m glad as heck that it did. Been loving Dune: Awakening so much that Death Stranding 2 has fallen by the wayside for now!