Black Desert | The Sun Sets on RU CBT - Road to Open Beta Begins | MMORPG

SBFord

Black Desert | The Sun Sets on RU CBT - Road to Open Beta Begins | MMORPG

Tuesday, September 15th marked the beginning of the second phase of the closed beta test for the Russian version of Black Desert Online. GameNet, publisher of BDO in Russia, took feedback from the first phase into consideration and made some significant changes to the game since then. Among the most notable are: pushing the level for PvP to 30 up from 20, nearly complete localization, a smoother leveling curve and more.

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JakeSim

Will there be an IP block for NA players?

BillMurphy

JakeSim said:

Will there be an IP block for NA players?

That's a good question! @SBford?

SBFord

@JakeSim - No, there shouldn't be. I'm in the US and I played just fine so I can't imagine that they'd put an IP block in place on OBT's launch.

JakeSim

SBFord said:

@JakeSim - No, there shouldn't be. I'm in the US and I played just fine so I can't imagine that they'd put an IP block in place on OBT's launch.

Thank you. It may just be time to give this a shot when OBT comes around then.

Anireth

Lowered rate of XP..well, if the current Russian "live" version is any indicator of what Russians like (as in, if they are able to adjust the XP gain and did so), that won't be a problem. At least in MMOs, my problem is usually that I am 5-6 levels higher than the quests that i'm supposed to do, at least when i do all side quests. In that regard, a lower XP gain would help a lot. Not sure if i want a lower XP gain overall though.

leon09

Anireth said:

Lowered rate of XP..well, if the current Russian "live" version is any indicator of what Russians like (as in, if they are able to adjust the XP gain and did so), that won't be a problem. At least in MMOs, my problem is usually that I am 5-6 levels higher than the quests that i'm supposed to do, at least when i do all side quests. In that regard, a lower XP gain would help a lot. Not sure if i want a lower XP gain overall though.

Its something you see a lot from western forum users for this game for some reason... i remember when the qq was about the Korean grinder... one makes it less and they vocal minority (which probably haven't even played the game) want it more grindy lol.

Also questing works a lot different in BD, there is very little quests for xp. Questing is to increase craft/processing profession xp / contribution points (big one) / energy points.

Lvling in BD is done from grinding mobs... and i cant wait to see these western gamers qq once they reach 50+(50 to 51 alone is like 1-50 again and just keeps getting bigger on Korean servers).. bet they wont want the lower xp rate then lol.

Xeno.phon

Too little, too late. The problem with the current model of porting asian games to the western markets is the time they take to do it. By the time its been finished the game is past its sell by date, people have moved on and there are better option on the market for them. Maybe if they just translated them and sent them over it would go better for them. But waiting 2-3 years for some goofballs to "westernize" a title is just absurd. People move on, find better option available to them faster and generally loose interest after so long.

shukolade

It will be just like Archeage. Anyone who seriously expects this to be good is just naive. There will hackers, exploiters, p2w galore, all that crap you know from the past.

Adam1902

We had such a good time on this game.
I just really hope there's a "hardcore" PvP-focused server for the EU/NA players. By that I mean gain karma as fast as RU if not faster, everyone has same death penalty even negative karma players which should include bag and small chance of body drops (obviously bad karma players still no access to citys etc). I'm sure the high level PvP is faster paced but what I experienced at lv.30 (people being able to pot faster than they get damaged) would be fine for lowbie PvP (getting people out of "your" spots) and would suit a partial loot on death game. I've seen video's of higher level PvP and the TTK is a little high in 1v1's which looks great and would suit that playstyle IMO.

But yeah the gameplay in this game, and the graphics are just phenominal.
The fact there's no instances and it seems like they're going for an open world focused game especially on the PvP side is totally my cuppa tea (there just needs to be a point to it outside sieges if it's going to keep me coming back for a few years :P.

But yeah, what I experienced a really solid game.
Probably going to end up playing RU release until EU comes, that's how much I like it.

Talonsin

shukolade said:

It will be just like Archeage. Anyone who seriously expects this to be good is just naive. There will hackers, exploiters, p2w galore, all that crap you know from the past.

Archeage itself is a good game. It is the monitization model they use that sucks.

Mikeha

Get rid of the pots and make everything in the game hard to do.

Octagon7711

Good article, will continue to watch this game.

BillMurphy

I expect to play this, and give it a really solid shot, but my hopes for a sandbox from Korea right now might rest on Bless.

RemyVorender

" Players have been worrying that this is where Pay-to-Win mechanic will make its way into the game, as by calculations, crafting now seems to be next to pointless unless you buy Energy Potions from the shop." Thanks for this. I'll pass.

Jonas_SG

I played BDO CBT2 as a " New player " would be to this game :

The major problem right of the bat - was the " Hardcore " changes to the RU version. I ran out of quest that gave level XP at around lvl 12. - this is way to early to start grinding mobs. I grinded to lvl 15, which took me hours and there were still no level XP quest.

If hardcore means - turning off your brain and slaughtering same mobs for hours - this is definitely a step back in MMOG development, this is 2015 - we are better than this.

I heard in Korean version, you can get to lvl 50 in 20 hours - this is good, it's how it should be. This game is about PvP and it starts at lvl 50, why in a world did RU Devs though that it was a good idea to put walls on the way and slow the progress. Do they want New players to quit before they reach lvl 50?

2nd Problem as was mentioned was the change to Crafting: adding Energy Points for processing.

3rd Problem was at the start of the CBT2. I think there were up to 12 channels at the end of the first day. Unfortunately, when the next day came, GameNet began to close unneeded channels and Workers working on this channels got stuck. Players couldn't access Workers on the closed channels. This came as a surprise to many. I think they resolved this issue few days later.

And for the positive: If I was to describe the gaming experience in this game: it was like playing the Witcher game. The world felt very alive, really deep - you rarely see such worlds in MMO Games. Unfortunately I didn't got to the main part of the game: PvP. So I failed. I guess i'll have to experience that in OBT.

The combat was very fun too. I really enjoyed playing a Warrior.

My hopes for EU/NA community - RPers: you  should really try this game. It has a really awesome setting for RolePlaying.

Theocritus

The game looks nice from the screenshots...that doesn't always mean anything but it looks like something I'd be willing to try.

Drisdane

Personally, getting to level 50 in 20 hours is a waste. I get it. Everyone has a different play style. But this mentality of rushing to end-game because "that is where the game starts" is about as flawed as any logic that I have heard. This is one of the many reasons why games that are released now are mediocre at best, and there is no real means to enjoy it. People need to stop and smell the roses. That 1-50 grind could be enjoyable if people took the time to explore what developers take the time to build. And before anyone calls me a casual carebear, I have raided in ranked guilds in both WoW and EQ2, so I am all about the end game. I am just saying that the game does not start there. It starts at level 1, as you explore the world that has been placed before you and all of its nuances.

SBFord

why in a world did RU Devs though that it was a good idea to put walls on the way and slow the progress.

Interestingly, this decision was made by polling the community. GameNet didn't independently come up with this on their own, but through the voice of their (future) players. I wonder if anyone is sorry they voted for it yet?

Jonas_SG

DMKano said:

I don't get why people are still calling this a sandbox game... heck even Pearl Abyss doesn't consider it sandbox.

Open world housing was a sandbox features they cut out a long time ago, same with land ownership, player built towns, ship building, etc... all of these sandbox features never made it into the game.

Where did this came from.  There are only 5 " Sanbox " words in this whole topic. 4 came from your post, and the last one was referring to the Bless MMOG.

SBFord said:

why in a world did RU Devs though that it was a good idea to put walls on the way and slow the progress.

Interestingly, this decision was made by polling the community. GameNet didn't independently come up with this on their own, but through the voice of their (future) players. I wonder if anyone is sorry they voted for it yet?

Yea I saw that poll too. If I played Korean or Japan version, I would have voted against. I really don't see a point in making the journey from 1 to 50 any longer than it was in original game other than risking  New players leaving the game before they reach 50. Maybe I lack experience with the game, so I don't really see what some people see.

Spiider

Kill 4 goblins get 2 shields... LOL. Pass.

Satyros

It's understandable if people clone WoW. The game is successful, it makes profit. But why on earth would anyone try the Archage model again? Well, Archlord 2 and EOS are both shutting down. Won't miss this one either.

Jinxys

Lost hope long ago for a sandbox game with Black Desert. However I will still be playing. The combat is very fun. Gorgeous visuals..umm what else? The thing is, how long it hold my interest?. I seem to be at the point in my gaming life where I need a deep rpg experience. Not just some rpg elements thrown in with pretty fluff. My time on the KR and JP servers was quite an isolating experience. There doesn't really seem like a need for grouping at all while leveling up? .. Whatever happened to enjoying the journey along the way? I don't see the point of rush rush rush. I really wonder how the US version will pan out... time will tell

rappelzninja

seems like i have to namedrop someone to be able to make a new thread so sorry @Jinxys :surprised: 

TheGoblinKing

Look everybody its ARCHE-AGE 2! FAIL

YashaX

martinsdemon said:

Personally, getting to level 50 in 20 hours is a waste. I get it. Everyone has a different play style. But this mentality of rushing to end-game because "that is where the game starts" is about as flawed as any logic that I have heard. This is one of the many reasons why games that are released now are mediocre at best, and there is no real means to enjoy it. People need to stop and smell the roses. That 1-50 grind could be enjoyable if people took the time to explore what developers take the time to build. And before anyone calls me a casual carebear, I have raided in ranked guilds in both WoW and EQ2, so I am all about the end game. I am just saying that the game does not start there. It starts at level 1, as you explore the world that has been placed before you and all of its nuances.

When I read posts like this I feel like the minds of some mmo players have been overly conditioned to WoW/EQ game mechanics, and just cannot break out of that mindset. 

Then we get these nice games and they get "Wowised" (westernized) and wonder why they play like shit.

BD isn't based on a mostly linear quest progression with strong story elements to keep you entertained, and a raid based "end-game" to try and keep people subbed after. 1-50 is more of a tutorial, and the whole game design revolves around that. 

Fuck I hate the "westernization" of these games. All it seems to do is delay them and fuck them up.