A request

To Funcom,

TL;DR: Please add an offline or local-hosted server option with adjustable resource-drop multipliers, equipment and base-degradation modifiers, and carry-weight adjustment sliders.

Let me preface this by saying that at launch I played a huge amount, thoroughly enjoyed Hagga’s Basin, and loved the story. I continued playing in the Deep Desert, even convincing our small group of four friends to push all the way to unlocking the carryall and sandcrawler. I was excited to finally max my character and earn the last few endgame upgrades with our improved harvesting capabilities.

But as time went on, we kept losing committed players. After weeks of building, planning, and dealing with scheduling conflicts, we finally managed to get just two of us online for our firstcarryall/sandcrawler harvest. Within fifteen minutes, a rogue, bloodthirsty player attacked us—wiping out hours of progress. I haven’t played since, despite desperately wanting to continue exploring the beautiful, complex world you created so convincingly and faithfully (not to mention the fantastic suspenser-belt and scout-ornithopter gameplay).

Every day, the frustration of re-harvesting the spice needed just to rebuild made returning harder. Base and equipment decay—and the need to haul an entire refinery’s worth of equipment to and from the Deep Desert—became bigger and bigger barriers, until months had gone by and, now, everything we had earned is essentially gone.

I want to come back, but the barriers to the endgame are now almost insurmountable, and the time commitment required simply isn’t realistic.

In games like Conan Exiles or ARK: Survival Evolved, you can adjust multipliers and settings on a private, locally hosted server (without paying third-party hosting services just to play). Surely, this long after launch—and with the current barriers to entry—the player count would not be harmed by offering these private-server options. In fact, you might even see a resurgence of returning players.

Adding this option wouldn’t take anything away from players who want full PvP. Instead, it would provide a welcoming, accessible way to enjoy this incredible world with fewer obstacles and a more sustainable progression path.

Please consider adding offline/local-hosted server support. It would bring players like me back—and keep us there

-SandBoi