Black Desert

This game had everything I wanted in an mmo except I don't give a shit about PvP anymore. I sorta miss playing Giant tho..

Sylas said:

People crying "p2w" "wallet warriors can buy their way to victory and now 2 shot non-p2w players" should look at your examples, since they prove what I've been saying, so thanks for supporting my point.

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... and this is why you're the prime example of a sperglord.

I WAS AGREEING WITH YOU THE WHOLE TIME. PAYING TO WIN IS AN ILLUSION IN BDO WITH THE CURRENT SYSTEMS.

tl;dr game is p2win now and everyone should quit

If you plan to P2W your best bet is value packs. You get more overall from your 5 weekly sells from outfits but you'd have to watch for requests from people to make sure the set doesn't just sit on the market. Packs sell almost instantly though.

Open offer for anyone wanting/still playing to join TDB, the remnants of the less-than-hardcore version of PRX. Edan server. Valencia E1 channel.

Never seen a game company try this hard to tank their own game.

Awakening Announcement

The content will be released on a bi-weekly basis starting with the Warrior class on August 31st, followed by the Sorceress on September 14th.


That's fortnightly, motherfuckers.

If anyone from here is playing, but isn't super hardcore about it and just wants to do shit, hit us up. TDB is the remnants of the less-than-hardcore PRX guild, XRP. We're trying to build back up a bit after PRX went unofficial and other events caused us to drop down to a mere 33 members. Edan server. Channels rotate between Valencia E1 and Valencia E2 depending on whether or not Node Wars are ongoing.

Website here: http://tdb-guild.enjin.com/home

Just apply, and tell them Arielen sent you.

1. There are areas that are inhabited by different mob factions or types. Most areas are fairly accessible (once you get into the 56+ range and move into the Valencia desert area you lose your map and can contract hyper/hypothermia during day night cycles). Profitability depends on area and mob type/drops/etc. Combat is pretty fast, can be trivial especially depending on class and what mobs you're hunting, but can also be challenging if you aren't good/geared etc. I still really enjoy the game after playing since official launch. PVP adds a large fun factor to the game and you would be doing yourself a disservice if you completely leave it out. Larger scale PVP in general is more fun than random ganking, but to each their own.

2. PVE game is lacking in the traditional sense. You have very little group required content, with most of it being limited to summoned encounters from scrolls you can acquire daily/weekly/randomdrop. Raiding is limited to variable timer spawned world bosses that giant zergs for the most part. You don't have dungeons in the more modern style, but there are definite areas that have underground/ruins/cave/fortress sections that you can camp or crawl through. Named mobs don't really exist outside of world bosses or scroll summons, loot is most random, with different mob groups having loot tables they pull from. Grind is real. Once you get into your 50's, especially 55 and up, xp slows way down, and progressing through levels and combat skill ups can get tedious for some. All this being said, I enjoy the PVE aspects of the game. It has the loose, do what you want grind of old EQ days, with some camps for popular xp areas, and to grind certain drops. I like combat from the character perspective and I think this is one of the shining features of the game. It is probably the best action style combat I've experienced in an MMO setting, most classes (haven't played them all) have a wonderful flow to their combat style, which makes mowing down endless waves of mobs enjoyable to me YMMV.

3. The gear grind is my biggest issue with the game. It is a grind that is facilitated by RNG smashing items together, hoping they combine to upgrade. Weapons and armor don't completely suffer from this, but accessories break on failure, leaving you with a lot of wasted silver and angst. Weapons and armor degrade their durability on failure and can be repaired with like items for continued attempts, but once you get into +16 and up, failure can result in downgrading, an example being going from +17 back to +16. Some prefer to just money grind and buy their gear, which is my current and preferred method of madness. Money is easy to make in the game from grinding, tradeskilling, fishing, literally whatever floats your boat. That can be a negative for some people as well. This game has damn near an endless list of things to do, and that has been overwhelming to some of my friends that have played. Lastly, combat from the mob AI side of things is also very lackluster. Most encounters consist of corralling packs together, and AOE'ing them down while dodging/blocking/evading their attacks, which takes some wonderfully constructed abilities and skill sets and reduces them to the same tired rotations for most classes. PVP, and it's by default varied nature, is where knowing your class makes combat shine. The PVE just doesn't provide enough variation in strategies to challenge or force most classes to their fullest potential.

Overall, it is a great game, with some flaws. My best recommendations are to find a class you enjoy, get a decent guild that fits your playstyle and will allow you to experience some of the better PVP aspects of the game, and just have fun however that translates to you in this game. It is a great sandbox ride, with a great class/skill/action combat setup, PVE that I wish was way more fleshed out, and some really great PVP. I specifically am not going to go into Cash Shop, P2W, etc because it's been covered in this thread already, and to me has no real standing on the game unless you want to be top 1% bleeding edge internet champion epeen wanker blah blah blah.

I don't think it's possible to make the xp grind harsher without completely destroying the game for the western audience. It's already a massive grind (currently) once you hit 58. Getting past 58 is currently well beyond EQ levels of grind. This has changed in major releases where they increase experience on mobs, and lower their hitpoints to stratify the leveling curve.

It wouldn't be possible to tweak the combat to make it harder/required to group. It would require a complete rewrite of mechanics and classes.

This is not a game for the ADD generation or short attention spans in general. When my wife and I talked about playing BDO we basically looked at the information available (since it had been out in Korea for a while) and figured it was going be a game that needed to be played with a long view. That is to say, the little bits and pieces that make up the game are repetitive and somewhat boring in and of themselves, hence it was going to be easy for some people to just burn themselves out. Multiply this by whatever you feel like because gear progression is subject by and large to RNG. The only way around that is to dive headlong into said repetitive tasks to generate silver and buy what you want. Any way you look at it though, it's a grind.

For the most part we were right. I figure at this point there's three types of people playing BDO. The first are those who have sunk so much time and/or money into this game that they feel they can't leave without something better to occupy their time. The second are the ones who don't have anything better to play, period. And the third, which I fall into, is people who simply enjoy the game, and didn't burn themselves out during the initial months leading up to now.

I'm only level 56, and still haven't PRI'd all my armor/weapons, even though that's easy enough to accomplish. I just don't feel a pressing need to do so. For the most part I'm content with logging on, doing guild missions or gathering materials for cooking or any number of other little things that I feel like doing. BDO is a game that is rewarding in different ways. Make of that what you will.

Moontayle is pretty spot on with his 3 groups (of which I fall into the same one he does), though I would say there is also a 4th that probably plays mostly just for the pvp aspects of the game. And outside of pvp, the game can be completely solo if you want. There are definitely benefits to grouping in areas with really high mob density and fast respawns like Sausan's and Pirate Island, which can also be a lot of fun if you like bs'ing in TS/Mumble/Discord/etc with your guildies/friends. But, in general, grouping is not a required activity outside of a few areas, scrolls, world boss spawns, and pvp. The game isn't for everyone, I don't believe it's possible to make one that would be, but if Asian elements, any kind of grind, or unfavorable RNG outcomes rustle your jimmies, this is probably not one for you. It has a lot of really good elements, and will probably have at least a few components added to any frankendream MMO I cobble together out of favored games past and present.

I tried really hard to like it, but the boring "murder mobs" grind got to me. The quests didn't even give leveling XP, which made it worse.

Yeah, the daily quests which give that disappear shortly after 50. Not that it matters these days. Wife and I leveled up Rangers to 50 from like, level 15, over the course of a weekend. The real barrier is basically gear and once you're past that it's skill points. I'm at like ~800 and it's not enough by far. Awakening trees are only going to make that worse, though I can reportedly drop a bunch of shit I have now as a result since it won't be nearly as useful.

Rhanyn, I find the PvP to be meh when it's all said and done. It's a thing to do. The only non-node war PvP basically occurs at the contested spawns (Pirates, Sausans, Ogres). I haven't been subject to a random PK in months. We did have one guild decide to throw down over Rogues of all spawns, but it didn't take much to deter them. Node wars can be fun but it's basically a game of who brings the most high level people.

moontayle said:

I figure at this point there's three types of people playing BDO. The first are those who have sunk so much time and/or money into this game that they feel they can't leave without something better to occupy their time. The second are the ones who don't have anything better to play, period. And the third, which I fall into, is people who simply enjoy the game, and didn't burn themselves out during the initial months leading up to now.

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There is a fourth type. I play a lot of mmo's casually, for a month or two at a time and then move on. Only to come back a year or so later. I didn't like BDO enough to keep at it, but it does have some fun elements - combat, graphics, etc.

They need to allow preorders for pearl items in the market. Damn snipers, its near impossible to get a pet or horse outfit. need 1 more outfit for complete sets, except the marine one, not a fan.
Finally started making steel.
Wish they would make more boat outlays/addons. Dont really like the 1 and only overlay for the fishing boat, pirate one would work great for the pirate outfits.

3-day weekend incoming. Fully plan on spending the bulk of it farming in Helms caves for the necklace. I got one off preorder once that started working properly but haven't bothered to get more to go for PRI/DUO. I still have the 7-day loot drop buff available plus a couple of GM boxes, the node is lvl 10, though I still need to get better ranks on the mobs that drop it. I have a toon parked at the knowledge reset npc for that purpose though.

Figure at the least I'll manage to make a few million silver and add another dent or two toward hitting 57.