Empty Spaces

I've been playing Dune: Awakening since launch. I previously wrote about destroyed beauty and how the decline in a server's population made the game feel like the movies in a way. It was cool to see buildings slowly lose power then get reclaimed by the sand.

What I didn't realize was how incredibly sad it was as well.

Over the past year, I've become more and more accustomed to playing alone, even in multiplayer titles, as some of my friends don't necessarily want to play what I'm playing. That can make things very lonely. Even in games where the goal might be to shoot other people! 😂

While that's not the main point of Dune: Awakening, it's certainly a part of the game.

About a month back, the developers, Funcom, began consolidating server populations and allowed players to migrate to other servers with their characters, base, and stash. From a technical standpoint, I imagine this was no small feat. But as a player, it was a smooth and easy process. I simply packed a vehicle, backed up my base, and voila.

After that, my friends and I searched servers where our desired plot of land was available. After two tries, we found our new home. Over the next week we saw more neighbors pile in.

And then even more.

Even more amazingly, House Harkonnen, whom we had sworn allegiance to, began winning the Landsraad, weekly competitions between the two main factions where the winner might choose anything from access to vendors that sell rare blueprints, to decreased crafting costs, or even more damage on ranged weapons.

I can recall only a handful of times where we had actually seen that. Now, though, it's a guarantee if the bigger guilds on our server think the weekly reward is worth their time.

Seeing some of them talk in chat and actually discuss their reasoning and strategy is pretty crazy. These guys do not mess around.

They know what they're doing and how to do it. It's refreshing to play with professionals and actually be on the winning side for once! 😂

Even more pleasing though, is actually seeing other people. The random interactions can be downright hilarious. Some are even tragic, like when I was heading back from the Deep Desert and came across a ravaged base.

I found a lone figure, clad in a still-suit, rebuilding it brick by brick. The base shields had gone out, he said, and a storm had decimated their base. I felt pity knot in my chest, wished him good luck, and moved on.

Another time, some friends and I were running a dungeon. Some other Harkonnens wanted to reset a spice blow (how you do that, I don't know, but you can apparently). Anyway, we haggled with them to help us finish the dungeon and we'd help them reset the spice blow. A few minutes later six friendlies swarmed the dungeon to help us out, and we finished soon after. It was great.

I found out last night that my server (Arrakis, Sietch Kathib) is completely full. It is absolutely wonderful. Just to see people and have a community again… man, it's great.

On PC, the folks who are still there love the game. And while it may be a little lore-breaking to see so many bases peppered about, it’s quite fun to have neighbors again. Seeing other sand crawlers, dune buggies, and ornithopters zip about is just cool. And if anything, I really forgot how much I enjoyed seeing people and interacting with them.

It seems like just a few months ago, I was that lone figure in a still-suit, rebuilding or harvesting alone with nobody around to help.

Now Funcom has begun showing glimpses of the polar regions for a future update. I'm super excited to explore and see what wrinkles they add to the survival mechanics — but even more, I want to see it crowded. More explorers, more ornithopters gliding above, and more of the wonderfully unexpected surprises you can only get when playing with other people.

It's nice to wander the empty places of Arrakis.

Just not alone. 😉

Stay frosty.