Inside Dune Awakening - Part 1: Joel Bylos on the Journey System, Archetypes, and Finding the F--K Yeah Moments

Dune: Awakening is certainly one of the most anticipated upcoming MMOs for numerous reasons. While Funcom has been clear about identifying the game as an MMO and not an MMORPG, one thing they aren’t skimping on is progression for their generalized archtypes. Recently I was able to sit down with the Creative Director for Dune: Awakening, Joel Bylos, and we covered numerous topics from progression, to survival and how certain your death will be when there’s a Worm Sign on the horizon.

In today’s look at Dune: Awakening we’ll touch on Joel’s answers on creating those «f—k yeah» moments that keep players coming back for more—but keep an eye out for more articles everyday this week on Dune: Awakening.

In our conversation we began with a topic that MMO players are familiar with, and that is questing. While we will touch on the story aspect in another article, in many large-scale MMOs the content you do as you progress is make or break for whether you stay with a game long term.

Joel was quick to point out that Dune: Awakening (D:A) has implemented the Journey System, which provides a fresh perspective on player progression in a survival MMO setting, but it will still feel familiar to quest lovers. Unlike many traditional MMOs, the journey in Dune: Awakening is not driven primarily by a specific set of quests, but instead follows a more open-ended and self-directed structure, blending early linear experiences with later player autonomy.

“There's players who love to explore, and they like to explore down skill trees and character paths and things like that. There are players who like the nitty gritty logistics of playing with their friends (such as) I am the crafter in the group and I do this job,” he explained. “We're trying to support those playstyles.”

A Journey of Your Own Making

He went on to explain that the Journey System hails from Conan Exiles, but the iteration in Dune: Awakening has some stark differences. It starts in a linear fashion, but shortly after you