Dune: Awakening griefers are at it again, devising ever more inventive ways to ruin other players' experiences. Once more, the issue revolves around Ornithopters.
Last week, Funcom released the Public Test Client for Dune: Awakening and expanded the Deep Desert PvE zone from roughly 10% to 50% of the map. This came after an AMA where the studio informed players unhappy with the endgame that it was "developing a strategy" to enhance PvP in the Deep Desert. Earlier, players had labeled the endgame "toxic" due to persistent griefing, even after the feature allowing players to crush each other with their Ornithopters was allegedly removed.
Despite Funcom's efforts, unscrupulous players have found another method to grief others by landing their Ornithopters on unsuspecting players—this time to block their resource farming.
"All the griefers are now heading to Hagga to farm spice. They're using the same thumper and Ornithopter landing tactic they perfected in [the Deep Desert], but now they're applying it to harvest all the minor nodes in Hagga," wrote one frustrated player over the weekend.
"This game faces significant challenges ahead. Griefers are waging an all-out war against everyone else on their server, and there's no way for solo players to unite and fight back. As a Dune fan, I don't believe that deploying a thumper only to have four Ornithopters land on you is part of the lore."
u/RandoFinder later updated their post to add: "I kept my Ornithopter at 730 km for 30 minutes until a spice blow occurred, and the moment I moved, four Ornithopters were chasing me. Seriously, you people are pathetic. This happened in Hagga. Tonight, players in Hagga chat were encouraging each other to doxx me after I confronted them. I've experienced WoW general chat and other toxic environments, but Dune's general chat is the most hostile I've ever seen."
"It should be obvious that PVP is PVP, and eliminating other players in a PVP zone is completely legitimate and anticipated," replied another player. "However, trapping someone by exploiting game mechanics designed to prevent similar griefing—like pinning players with Ornithopters that can't be destroyed or escaped in a PVE zone—is griefing. Griefing should be explicitly and implicitly prohibited. If you're in a PVE zone, you shouldn't have to fear being killed by players abusing game mechanics."
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As of this writing, Funcom has not publicly addressed the issue.
Dune: Awakening has had an outstanding launch, earning a 'Very Positive' user review rating on Steam. Within hours of its release on June 10, Funcom's survival MMO attracted over 142,000 concurrent players on Valve's platform and reached a new peak earlier this month of 189,333 players. It has also surpassed 1 million players, becoming Funcom's fastest-selling game to date and securing a Great 8/10 in our review.
If this has piqued your interest but you're unsure where to begin, be sure to explore all the Dune: Awakening classes available, and consult our Dune: Awakening walkthrough for a step-by-step story guide. We also offer Dune: Awakening resource guides to help you locate iron, steel, aluminum, plus a Dune: Awakening Trainers locations guide to aid your survival on Arrakis.
