The Dragon's Dogma 2 community has united under the banner of rotten food to combat the spread of Dragonsplague

techradar.com:

Dragon's Dogma 2 players are getting creative in warning others of its deadly Dragonsplague mechanic.

Dragonsplague has proven to be such a problem that players are now devising ways to warn others about it before it's too late. One community thread on Steam (spotted by Eurogamer) suggests sending Pawns back to their player with a gift item that suggests something's off.

«Point is, when I recruit a pawn that is clearly exhibiting plague signs, I want to 'return to sender' with a gift that says 'hey, your pawn is about to explode, you might want to throw their ass in a lake,'» the original post reads. «I've thought about a rotten apple but those aren't readily available because they have to rot, and any rotting stuff I've always interpreted as 'your pawn sucks.'»

While some are also suggesting sending a Pawn packing with rotten fruit, others are bringing forward options that may come across as less toxic, such as a wilted flower or a detoxifying potion to hint that the Pawn needs curing.

In case you're unfamiliar, Dragonsplague affects the game's AI-controlled Pawns who fight alongside you and is typically contracted by coming into contact with a drake or lesser dragon enemy. Once a Pawn has it, symptoms will escalate from reddish eyes and disobeying orders to, well, I won't spoil the surprise here. The feature has proven to be quite divisive among the Dragon's Dogma 2 community. But honestly, I think it rules.

While Dragonsplague has been a source of great frustration for many players, I think it's pretty fantastic that the community is working together to devise a universal way of warning others about it. This kind of community discussion, and thinking outside the box, is something you rarely see in the AAA space.

Dragon's Dogma 2 has proven to be a huge success both critically and commercially. Clips of playthroughs are abundant on social media, and the game has sold over 2.5 million copies less than two weeks out from its March 22 launch.

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