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Tuesday news, part two:

Dune: Awakening devs had to get permission from the Herberts to change a tiny piece of Dune lore so players wouldn't constantly nuke each other
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/survival-crafting/dune-awakening-devs-had-to-get-permission-from-the-herberts-to-change-a-tiny-piece-of-dune-lore-so-players-wouldnt-nuke-each-other-constantly/
In Dune: Awakening, Funcom's upcoming survival MMO set on the harsh desert planet of Arrakis, you'll be able to build your own home, ally yourself with one of the Great Houses, flee from enormous sandworms and fight other players with both ranged weapons and up-close melee combat. But you will not be allowed to shoot one of Dune's laser weapons at a player with an active personal shield, a gameplay constraint that will make a lot of sense when you read this description from the Dune wiki 

You can claim land for your base on Arrakis in survival MMO Dune: Awakening, but you'll have to pay the Emperor for it
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/mmo/you-can-claim-land-for-your-base-on-arrakis-in-survival-mmo-dune-awakening-but-youll-have-to-pay-the-emperor-for-it/
Since its reveal back in 2022, we've gradually been learning more about Dune: Awakening, Funcom's upcoming survival MMO set on a "vast and seamless Arrakis." Along with a new gameplay trailer released today that you can watch above, PC Gamer editor Wes Fenlon got the chance to chat with Funcom's Joel Bylos, the MMO's creative director, about some of the finer details, like Dune: Awakening's base-building.
>> What you won’t be able to do is sandwalking.

'A lot of us are old school MMO players': Dune: Awakening's creative director on how Star Wars Galaxies was a 'huge inspiration' for the new survival game
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/survival-crafting/a-lot-of-us-are-old-school-mmo-players-dune-awakenings-creative-director-on-how-star-wars-galaxies-was-a-huge-inspiration-for-the-new-survival-game/
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"It's funny you mentioned Star Wars Galaxies—that was a huge inspiration for us," Joel Bylos said. "That's the style of MMO we really like, the old sandboxy MMOs. Then World of Warcraft came out and everyone copied that for a few years, or still do. But a lot of us are old school MMO players. Funcom's been around for awhile—even made one of the originals, with Anarchy Online."

Get back in the war: Helldivers 2 daily orders have returned, and earlier than announced
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/third-person-shooter/get-back-in-the-war-helldivers-2-daily-orders-have-returned-and-earlier-than-announced/
I do not want to die in a bug-infested hellscape for nothing. If I'm going to get murdered over and over again in Helldivers 2, I better be getting a big stack of medals out of it. Such rewards haven't exactly been pouring in, however, since one of the biggest sources, the daily personal orders, hasn't been working. 
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The good news is that the medal drought will soon be over. "Starting 09.00 CET tomorrow, daily orders will be back online," a Discord announcement posted earlier today reads. I just hopped in a moment ago and I actually do have one already, where there's 16 hours left to kill 100 enemies with an Eagle strafing run. I've confirmed that Helldiver 2 fanatic Harvey has the same one. Judging by the Discord, we're not alone. It might be that they aren't working for everyone, however, or that the current one is still a bit buggy, so you might still want to wait until tomorrow. 

Tribes 3: Rivals hits early access next week promising 'rebirth' for the exquisite fusion of skiing fast with a flag and explosive frisbees
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/tribes-3-rivals-hits-early-access-next-week-promising-rebirth-for-the-exquisite-fusion-of-skiing-fast-and-explosive-frisbees/
If you want to know what I think of Tribes, I reviewed the last entry in the series (2012's free-to-play Tribes: Ascend) for Eurogamer and it's one of the few games I've ever given a 10. God that game was good, though, sadly, it didn't quite stick the landing with enough players to survive: Ascend went into that good night in 2016, since when there's been a large Tribes-shaped gap in my collection.
Thing is, there's nothing really like Tribes. It's an FPS, sure, but its particular take on capture the flag (momentum and speed-based plays), unique weapons, and face-blistering pace as you ski-slash-fly through the maps doesn't have even a close equivalent. Tribes 3: Rivals (this is not the third Tribes game: don't ask) aims to bring it all back, and developers Prophecy Games have just announced that, following its excellent NextFest demo, the game will launch in early access on March 12. 

The Joker joins Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League at the end of March
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/suicide-squad-kill-the-justice-league-season-1-date/
The first season of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League will go live on March 28, and as promised it will see the arrival of one of DC's most infamous villains: The Joker.

Group that claimed it stole data from Epic admits it didn't happen, Epic says the whole thing was 'a scam'
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/group-that-claimed-it-stole-data-from-epic-admits-it-didnt-happen-epic-says-the-whole-thing-was-a-scam/
Following a report last week of a ransomware attack on Epic Games that allegedly made off with nearly 200GB of data, Epic now says the whole thing was in fact "a scam"—and so does the group that claimed credit for it in the first place.

Helldivers 2 uses its game master to stop the live service side from being 'just a calendar with automated events tied to major holidays'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/third-person-shooter/helldivers-2-uses-its-game-master-to-stop-its-live-service-side-from-being-just-a-calendar-with-automated-events-tied-to-major-holidays/
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The galactic war is something that we understand the broad contours of, but Arrowhead's wisely kept vague about the specifics of how it's working. The most fascinating element of it can probably be summed up in one proper noun: Joel. The mythical game master was revealed to PCG in an interview last week, since when they've acquired meme status among the community. Bad mission? Blew up your mates? Goddamn it, Joel!
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A community manager from developer Arrowhead has now spilled a few more beans on the idea behind the game master, and what the studio's hoping it will mean for the game.