The developers of Dune: Awakening have long been working on private servers for their survival MMO. Now they’re launching just in time for release.
What have the developers announced? The developers of Dune: Awakening announced private servers shortly before release (via Steam). So far, the developers have always emphasized that they were working on it and would add private servers after launch, but now it seems they’ve managed to do it before the launch.
On the release on June 5th, several providers will offer servers for rent that players can hire. Anyone renting a server can also make some settings that are not possible on official servers. For example, server owners can completely disable safety zones, thus enabling PvP anywhere on the map.
Also adjustable is the taxation of bases, which otherwise would mean that the homes of players who have stopped playing would decay. Owners can also activate and deactivate sandstorms and give their server a unique name. So far, there are no admin commands or character transfers, but the developers intend to provide these settings later.
What will happen after the launch of Dune: Awakening, you can find out here:
Private servers, but you are not alone
How do private servers work in an MMO? The developers make it clear that even private servers share areas with other servers. Anyone renting a private server for Dune: Awakening is essentially renting a so-called Sietch. The Sietches are sub-servers where the world of the Harkonnen Basin exists.
This is where the start of the game as well as the mid-game takes place. The permanent player bases are also located there. When it comes to the endgame in the deep desert, trading at the bases of Harkonnen or Atreides, players from the private server will meet other players again.
Anyone who has dreamed of transforming the PvP-heavy endgame into a PvE game without danger with a private server will be disappointed.
However, visiting other private servers with your own character should be possible. Players can bring everything their character carries, and it will be possible to claim land that is not claimable on the official servers.
Here you can see how private servers work:
What initially sounds like it would provide PvE players with an alternative endgame turns out to be just a light version of a real private server. How the endgame will really be and why it is not just for PvP fans will be explained here: Developers of Dune: Awakening explain why you don’t have to be afraid of other players, even if PvP is an important part of the game
