Dusting / to dust

''This article is about in-game representation of a disconnecting player. For general information see To connect or to disconnect!''

Dusting means when a Companion sits down and turns to sand.

To dust as a verb typically means breaking the connection / quitting the game so the Companion gets to see your Wayfarer sit down and turn into dust (or the opposite, i.e. seeing your companion turning into dust).

How to get it
This happens when the connection between your Companion and you fails abruptly.

Reasons are:


 * your Companion decided to quit the game
 * Companion actually tries to meet someone else, thus deactivating the connection manually.
 * their game or device crashed etc.
 * the distance between you was too big (especially when one activates certain triggers)
 * yours or the companion's internet connection has failed
 * player logged out from the platform such as PSN, Epic Games or Steam
 * if it seems like a sudden dust (example: dropping out of the sky when flying: check if you are still connected to the PSN / the internet. You might be able to reconnect, if your Companion is still around and there is some distance between you.

If you have the feeling that you get to see many "random and sudden" dusts, you might want to check your internet connection / using a LAN cable instead of Wi-Fi.

"Ignoring Companions" / dusting on sight.
You might run into people that are just training, speedrunning, flying or trying to connect to a specific person. They might ignore you, to show that they don't want to travel with someone right now or may be just busy with what they are doing at that moment. You can try to get their attention, join in to whatever they are doing (if you can) or just walk on.

Gallery with a story behind the dust
The story: "N: I just had a companion sand in the moment I met him, twice in a row. Damn, he must really hate me! 0278: It's me! seems like my internet is messy tonight :("

- Nathanj and 0278 on discord

The gallery:

Trivia
Sometimes you can still see a Companion walk for a while although they are not there anymore.

Quotes
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