• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Black Desert Online |OT| Come on in, the sand's fine [Mediah Update]

Ashodin

Member
jjxbzOn.png

What is Black Desert Online?
Black Desert Online is an MMORPG created by Pearl Abyss, a Korean developer. Pearl Abyss is striving for a revival of the sandbox sub-genre of MMOs, where the “endgame” is all around you. Whatever you choose to do in this world, be it crafting, fighting, or trading, is part of “living” in the world created by the developers. There are no raids or instanced dungeons; everything is end-game. What you do in this world and who you choose to be is entirely up to your imagination. Want to be primarily a fisherman and have a huge fishing boat and make money? You can do that. Want to grow the best crops and best cooking food to sell at the auction house and traders? You can do that. Want to gank players and fight in PVP arenas outside of major cities for glory? You can do that.

BLACK DESERT GUIDE EXTRAVAGANZA: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1JnFambQifvui7-V68QMsfuXuhAuu4C0NsVJCxJIv84E/preview

rC1WPjq.gif

The character creator is one of the best in the biz.

But dungeons and raids are how I only know MMORPGs are good!
Stop right there. Black Desert Online is a sandbox MMO, which means the focus of the game is not what traditional theme parks are after. Theme park MMOs are all about the race to the top; get the best gear, fight extremely tight and nuanced fights, and do it again and again until you have the best gear, then do more when developers release more content. Black Desert Online is all about letting YOU craft the experience you want in the world, be it fighting extremely tough enemies including summoned bosses, or setting up your own housing and trading system with NPCs, and much more. Thus, if you come into this came expecting something out of traditional theme park MMOs, you will be disappointed.

Q9feXDj.gif

Get out!

Uh, okay, but what makes this game GOOD?
Pearl Abyss have gone on record stating they want to enhance all the areas of the game as needed, including the Life (crafting/fishing/trading) categories, the PVE (adding open-world dungeons!), and the PVP (new cities that cater to negative karma and positive karma players, setting up a bounty hunting system, and more). All facets of what you enjoy about MMORPGs are taken to a new level in this game, with in-depth cooking and crafting, housing system reminiscent of The Sims, and combat similar to that of Devil May Cry.

DLXECNm.gif

Rip and tear!

Plus, it doesn’t hurt that the game’s visuals are gorgeous and on a entirely proprietary engine that the developers themselves came up with.

CofUGH5.gif

Lightning storms!

That’s all well and good, but what about the downsides to the game?
Currently, there’s a bit of contention with the cash shop in terms of pricing on costumes and stats (which are negligible), but those issues are expected to get resolved or at least listened to as time goes on. At launch, the publisher DAUM will be reducing cash shop outfit prices by 10% of what was seen in the last closed beta; further feedback will be taken into account, of course.

Other than that, besides having no raids or dungeons to speak of, the game can be overwhelming for first-time players of sandboxes. The game drops you into all the systems without very much in the way of tutorials, so it’s entirely up to the player to learn as they go, which may not be for everyone. This is essentially dropping players into the mix and saying “OK here’s the tools, now it’s up to you to figure out how to use them.” It’s not for everyone. Expect lots of YouTube videos from content creators to explain every system.

qh6rkjT.gif

Can you stealth? You can stealth quest.

Alright, I’m psyched. I want to live in this world. How much do I pay?
On Black Desert Online’s website, blackdesertonline.com, you can purchase a copy for either $30 or $50. $50 gets you a horse, a pet, and a whistle to call the horse should you leave it behind. Think like Link and Epona.


MAJOR FEATURES OF BLACK DESERT ONLINE

LIFE
(CRAFTING/TRADING/FISHING, ETC)


PBwHY5H.gif

Snow coming soon(TM)

In Black Desert Online, they’ve elevated what you normally call professions in other MMOs into a real part of the game. Almost everything in the world can be harvested and gathered; in the starting area alone, you can harvest crops, trees, metals, stone, and much more. All you need is some gathering tools, and off you go. Being a sandbox, you don’t know exactly what you’re digging up, and knowledge of the item increases as you gather it. See a bush? It’s just a normal bush upon gathering, but as you gain more knowledge, it becomes a berry bush, then a blueberry bush. This is just an example. In a regular theme park MMO, it would immediately be a blueberry bush, and you’d gain a standard amount from them. In Black Desert, the more you gain knowledge of an item, the more you gather, and more interesting new items you could gather from the same node.

To facilitate this, they’ve added systems to the Map that allow you to see temperature, humidity, as well as fishing and trading routes.

PVE
(QUESTING/KNOWLEDGE/BOSSES)


TrlHN3v.gif

Awakening weapons coming soon(TM)

The PVE of Black Desert Online is primarily based on killing mobs for gaining levels (otherwise known as grinding, however it does NOT take much grinding to hit the soft cap of Level 50, the hard cap is currently 55, and will take a while to reach.) That said, the difference between a Level 50 and Level 55 is not that much different, and is mainly there to give you something to continue working toward while you do other things in the game. Questing also pertains to several different things, including helping NPCs find their lost items or cats, carrying items back to a town that have been left out in the wild, eradicating camps of enemies, and much more. Some include mini-games like jumping on a bellows to heat a pot of water, and so forth. Summonable bosses are in the game that use scrolls to create huge enemies that take effort to beat solo and recommend you get friends to help in the slaughter. Each player in the group can get loot from the boss, and it is recommended to take these on in groups of five.

One of the biggest areas of the game is the mini-game involved with the NPCs, called the Knowledge system. It not only extends to knowing your enemies as well by killing them (you won’t see their HP bar until you get knowledge!), but NPCs require you to chat them up and get on their good side before they unlock useful features such as renting their gear or new quests and other various goodies. It’s probably one of the most robust systems ever added to an MMORPG concerning the usual NPCs you just usually take quests from and not read anything.

PVP
(GUILD NODE SIEGES/CASTLE SIEGE/WORLD PVP)


MPYcOm0.gif

Racing off to catch up with the guild siege!

The PVP of Black Desert Online is an unusual one - instead of your usual themepark MMO trope of world pvp anytime, anywhere (which this is still in this game, but with a caveat), the game emphasizes taking towns, nodes, and using that to their advantage of selling goods and items better than before. Guilds can war over these areas and nodes every so often. In solo PVP, you can go to arenas outside of towns to duel with no respawn removal, or you can gank players after level 50. Doing so however will incur the game’s unique feature: karma. All players have some form of karma, be it positive or negative. Positive karma occurs from killing mobs all the time. Negative karma occurs when you kill a player who hasn’t flagged up for PVP. Doing so will drop your karma into negatives, which have disadvantages upon death: losing your equipment, your gems break, even get teleported randomly when you die to make ganking harder and harder. It’s one of the friendliest PVP systems to PVE players I’ve ever seen in a sandbox MMO. Make no mistake; the majority of PVP is done Guild vs. Guild, and you can declare war on another guild if you so choose.

MANY MORE FEATURES TO COME; PLEASE KEEP CHECKING BACK!

GAF GUILD (NA)
ORWEN - CALPHEON #1

EU GAF GUILD
JORDINE - SERENDIA #1

DISCORD LINK - QUOTE TO REVEAL

 
Finally. Loving this!

Copy/pasting myself from the other thread:

I've played 10 hours today...I'm only level 12. I've spent ~6 hours near Velia (one of the first towns) doing crafting and fishing stuff.

I'm slowly getting my head wrapped around all of these systems and how they work. There is so much here that I really haven't even felt the need to run from kill quest to kill quest, or to grind. I know I'm missing things still, too.

It's weird, I haven't felt like I'm just hanging out and actually doing stuff in the world like this since Asheron's Call or Vanguard. Breaking the mentality of the gear grind and the idea that endgame = random dungeons and raids was something I thought would be difficult for me, because I haven't super gotten into a sandbox since Ultima Online pre-Trammel, but this just feels so good to be playing that I don't think it is going to be any problem at all.
 

CoLaN

Member
One of the most immersive MMORPG that i have ever played.

The crafting/gathering/trading/workers systems are so deep, its a joy. Also, best rain effects: it creates puddles, wets the armor, and creates a layer of water on open wooden floors.
 

Topper

Member
Level 14 so far, really enjoying. Havent started getting into the crafting yet just having fun running around killing things.
 

satori

Member
Yay ot! My buddies are in love so far with the game. My wife and I been really busy so did not get to play yet but plan to soon. Can't wait to play with you Gaf!
 

Gaz_RB

Member
Sooo torn on this. Part of me wants to get it, but The other part is scared it won't be sandboxy enough for me.
 

Teknoman

Member
Is there a benchmark or something? Also not to be that anime nerdy guy, but damn does this sound like what i'd want to play after watching say....Hack or Sword Art. Seems like it would be a great companion to FFXIV.
 

Sectus

Member
If I get the $30 package, can I still buy a horse in game?

You can buy a horse for ingame currency in the horse marketplace, or you can tame one yourself. It's rewarding taming your first horse, so that's what I recommend.
 

Silvard

Member
I'm geo-locked from playing the game, does anyone know any workarounds? I'm a massive fan of sandbox MMOs (SWG being one my favorite experiences in online gaming) and I would kinda like to play this.

Is there player housing? Is it class based? The website doesn't really go into much detail.
 
Nice OT! Can't wait until we get the GAF guild up and running.

This game is gorgeous and so relaxing to play. The sim management aspects totally caught me off guard. It's so different from recent MMOs and a nice breath of fresh air.
 

nataku

Member
Are seaweed caught by fishing? The game says so but I'm catching nothing. Also, Mudskipper. Can't catch that, either.
 
So it's like Runescape, but with a combat system that doesn't make me want to smash my head on the keyboard.
I might get it in a few months when I get a PC
 

Gromph

This tag is currently undergoing scheduled maintenance...
Staff Member
Are seaweed caught by fishing? The game says so buy I'm catching nothing. Also, Mudskipper. Can't catch that, either.

Yes, you catch both fishing.

Is random, so it will take a while.
 
Are seaweed caught by fishing? The game says so buy I'm catching nothing. Also, Mudskipper. Can't catch that, either.

Yes to both. Note that the fish names in a lot of quests are wrong or mixed up but the Mudskipper and Seaweed should be the correct names. Click on the pathfinder and make sure you are in the right area. Right in front of the Velia docks should be good.

If I buy the $30 version can I play tonight

I think early access was only for pre-orders so you may need to wait until the official launch on March 3rd.
 

cheezcake

Member
Any Australian players? I'm interested but I suppose we'll have to play on NA servers and was wondering how bad the lag affects the game.
 

Dead

well not really...yet
This game, I'm still trying to figure out all the shit like Nodes, Contribution Points, etc, but it's just amazingly fun and relaxing just exploring and enjoying the scenery and weather, and then the fighting...best active combat of any MMO ever IMO


Tamer fun as hell and I dont even have the BEAST yet. Also cute AF ;_;
 

-tetsuo-

Unlimited Capacity
This is quite easily the best MMO I have played on many, many years. If it was much harder to PvE forcing players to party up to grind, it would be a complete throwback to the early MMOs.
 

Gears

Member
Okay sweet. I was recently doing a toss up between getting back into WoW or a realm reborn, and now this joins the fray
 

nataku

Member
Is there some sort of bug with fishing where the things you catch don't appear in your inventory? I just caught a seaweed for the second quest that requires it and it never appeared in my inventory.

This isn't the first time it's happened. I've had other fish not appear.
 

LOLCats

Banned
Is there some sort of bug with fishing where the things you catch don't appear in your inventory? I just caught a seaweed for the second quest that requires it and it never appeared in my inventory.

This isn't the first time it's happened. I've had other fish not appear.

You have to fish when its raining.
 

Noirulus

Member
I want to play this but unfortunately I will have to wait 2 months or so, until the school semester is finished. The fact that it's not just another generic theme park MMO really excites me.
 

Stiler

Member
REally kicking myself for not pre ordering when I had the chance, now wish I did so I could play early :(.
 

andee-

Neo Member
Anyone who bought the game willing to give me a guest pass? I'd like to try the game out before buying it. Would really appreciate it!
 

Aureon

Please do not let me serve on a jury. I am actually a crazy person.
I'd have a pair of questions, if anybody can answer them:


Is there actual crafting, ala FFXIV, or it's just "Gather mats -> Click button"?
Can you "fail" a craft? Is there any player skill in crafting?

How does trading compare to archeage? Is trading worth it, and worth organizing and PVPing over, or it's just a timewaster?
 
If I buy the $30 version can I play tonight

edit: nope, march 2nd... wednesday
no thanks

if the game is ready, launch it

Considering how many server issues they are having right now, with JUST the people who preordered the $100 version, i would say that they would have 3 times the server issues if they opened the floodgates immediately
 
If I buy the $30 version can I play tonight

edit: nope, march 2nd... wednesday
no thanks

if the game is ready, launch it

Actually, not until Thursday. Ordering now gets no early access. How dare they advertise something as a bonus for ordering by a specific time and actually mean it. :p

Though, to be completely honest, I'd prefer if they let people in early. My wife decided she wants to play and now has to wait until Thursday.
 

-tetsuo-

Unlimited Capacity
I can only imagine how ridiculously packed each channel will be when the gamenisnlike fully filled out. All the channels on Edan were overrun and crowded all day.
 
Top Bottom