BDO. Its not special. Its the same. Same.

solochoowookie

Bear with me. I know it is long, you may not agree, but this is my take on the state of BDO, and the design philosophy at Pearl Abyss.

When Black Desert launched I was skeptical. It was a KR game, and I was deep in ESO at the time, but it looked so pretty how could I not at least take a peek. 

I am sure many of the western players started this way. Then we found a complex game, amazing detail, graphics, wide open game play, and the insanely fun combat system. 

Mostly we found that playing BDO the right way, was about a personal journey of what you wanted to do. No uber builds, no single type of class or gear, life skills would make you just as rich as combat skills.

They have a great balance of pay for cosmetics and convenience on the cash shop, I have spent more money with them just buying clothes, furniture, and pets than any other game in my life. Not even close. I know I am not alone with that.

There were occasionally bugs and downtime, but they seemed to work hard at getting them fixed, and have been rolling new content at a very steady pace.

Above all they have seemed focused on all changes being about the best user experience in this fantasy world. 

Recently there have been bugs introduced that don't seem to be addressed, features stop working or removed. 

In October they had a bug where if you hit the 'walk' button it would glitch and your avatar would just slide in a locked step along the ground. For a game that was so smooth it was jarring. Tickets we logged, dev staff engaged and offered 'sorry for the problems and disruption'. Fine, things happen, looked like they were going to fix it.

Instead they just turned off the feature. Gone. You can still map the key in the settings, but you cant get it to just walk. Many complained, Pearl Abyss offered a toggle on the autopath as a 'new feature'. So click your caps lock, and then click autopath. 

Poof, back in business. Only now you can't turn, and if you touch your keys you are running again. So you cant really walk around your house or town, you can more like march, in a line. Yep. That is one kind of feature.

Users have logged tickers, posted on the boards, spoke with GMs, tweeted etc. trying to get this addressed. "Feature working as intended." is now the response. "If we get people to request it in an constructive manner maybe the devs will look at it again".

What now?

It's really about how naive I was. I just wanted it to be different. I wanted a studio that did not break things and say "No, that was a feature. Its working like we planned. You are using it wrong." 

I am too old to be this clueless, but here I am. I thought BlackDesert was special in a genre full of cash grab studios and play to win sharks. Really. I know you are calling me a dumbass. You are not wrong. I wanted it, so I saw it. I was not there, it was maybe never there. 

So the only power I have is my spending, and my recommendation as a consumer. I wont do business with those companies, they dont give a shit about me, but they do care about my dollars, and I choose to spend it someplace else.

If you want to try BDO. Just know they are the same as the people at WoW, at Rift, at SWTOR, the same as Guild Wars, or Secret World, or ESO. 

Its the same. Black Desert is not special. #BDOWalkAway 

SEANMCAD

when the game was first coming out, I took a look at some screenshot and watched some game play and within just a few mins (if not seconds) I could figure out it was basically arcade like MMO standard forumla stuff.

not saying that to come of braggy, just saying I think it should be clear.

IN fact if you watch a video of game play of BDO, then of Archeage you can barely tell the difference

bcbully

Only about everything is different between the two... BDOs combat system for starters is as far away form AA tab target as you can get. Both were made over seas that’s about were the similarities end.

SEANMCAD

bcbully said:

Only about everything is different between the two... BDOs combat system for starters is as far away form AA tab target as you can get. Both were made over seas that’s about were the similarities end.

when you watch videos of the game play combat you can barely tell the difference.

I am sure they are not exactly the same but given what is possible on this planet with this technology its close enough to the same to say....yawn

simsalabim77

SEANMCAD said:

bcbully said:

Only about everything is different between the two... BDOs combat system for starters is as far away form AA tab target as you can get. Both were made over seas that’s about were the similarities end.

when you watch videos of the game play combat you can barely tell the difference.

I am sure they are not exactly the same but given what is possible on this planet with this technology its close enough to the same to say....yawn

They're not even close to being similar when it comes to combat. Had you played them for 30 seconds instead of watched a video, you would know this. 

Renoaku

The only thing I hate about BDO is XingCode, but besides that I haven't heard any issues about walking around or glitches heck the game runs in full 4k resolution at max graphics with no issues.

AA had tab targeting I did not hate the game, but Trion Worlds killed the game just after 1-2 years of playing the game they made insane changes, had two server merges the game is dying because of Trion or died because of Trion, but over-all Arche Age was better when it came to the farming system the ability to plant trees, build house in the open, upgrade mansion and such was awesome something BDO Doesn't have, while BDO is better at the combat.

I am not saying Black Desert is the best game out there, but BDO does have pretty amazing graphics, although I think that Ashes OF Creation will be the more popular U.S game in the future if they keep up the hard work in development, same with Crow Fall being able to take over games like Albion & Dark Fall if they take the right path at development again.

Darksworm

Performance is extremely spikey on my PC.  I wonder what kind of hardware one would need to run this thing comfortably at 60 FPS at 4K resolution...  Lol.

Renoaku

Darksworm said:

Performance is extremely spikey on my PC.  I wonder what kind of hardware one would need to run this thing comfortably at 60 FPS at 4K resolution...  Lol.

core i7-6700 or higher
GTX 1080ti if running hi-rez graphics card recommended
32GB DDR4-3600 or higher
SSD  for primary boot drive
Hard Drive for gaming Western Digital 7200 or higher 1TB+

Best ones would be the Asus ROG motherboard series and Video Card.

Then the game will run at around 70-100 FPS max. in maximum resolution heck you can fight in PVP 60+ players with all effects on only about 15 seconds of lag when all the fighting starts to load everything then smooth throughout the game as long as you have the ram to cache the graphics.

Obviously if you want higher go with a ASUS ROG build and a Socket 2066 CPU Core i9 line and Dual SLI on a motherboard that has 32  pcie lanes something games forget and I see people using Dual 1080ti's on a Socket 1151 motherboard what a waste.

And a fast internet connection 2mbit + Upload  100mbit + Download.

Viper482

The game has very original and complex systems, it really is pretty deep. Problem is I was tired of having to be logged in and fishing every day, all day afk.

Renoaku

Viper482 said:

The game has very original and complex systems, it really is pretty deep. Problem is I was tired of having to be logged in and fishing every day, all day afk.

Generally all you have to do is spend $200 for a full inventory, get a Balenos Rod +10, put a branding stone for around $200, get fishing +5 easy to do, go afk for 16 hours a day 8 hours while you sleep 8 hours while you're at work, and put your PC In a low power state should use 300-400 watts, monitors should be off, come back later after work hop on and play.

But yeah it should have been designed better u should be able to afk fish without being online.

The cost to run a pc at 400 watts an hour for 30 days is around $30 USD a month in the U.S

Quizzical

Let me get this straight:  you're upset that a game isn't perfect, doesn't cater solely to your tastes, and is trying to make money?  And you're surprised by that?

I didn't like Black Desert very well, but I will give them credit for trying some innovative things.

Renoaku

Quizzical said:

Let me get this straight:  you're upset that a game isn't perfect, doesn't cater solely to your tastes, and is trying to make money?  And you're surprised by that?

I didn't like Black Desert very well, but I will give them credit for trying some innovative things.

Well BDO could have still done it better remember a game called "Age OF Wushu" where you could kidnap offline players while their character remained working in world BDO Could have adopted the same concept of you go afk fishing and you can shut your pc off but your character remains fishing until you log back in.

solochoowookie

The rant is not over walk, the rant is over removal of a feature they broke, still have the mapping in the game, and then telling me it is 'working as intended'. I have logged tickets, been on the boards, sent messages etc. 

For weeks it was a crazy graphics glitch but the walk button still worked. Instead of fixing it they just removed it. That is shitty work. They posted in the patch notes it was 'fixed', but it was not, they just took it out of the game. 

I understand they are in business for profit. Of course, but they are supposed to be user centric in the design. Fuck, Denny's and Morton's are both for profit in the same industry, but its safe to have higher expectations for one.

solochoowookie

DMKano said:

solochoowookie said:

The rant is not over walk, the rant is over removal of a feature they broke, still have the mapping in the game, and then telling me it is 'working as intended'. I have logged tickets, been on the boards, sent messages etc. 

For weeks it was a crazy graphics glitch but the walk button still worked. Instead of fixing it they just removed it. That is shitty work. They posted in the patch notes it was 'fixed', but it was not, they just took it out of the game. 

I understand they are in business for profit. Of course, but they are supposed to be user centric in the design. Fuck, Denny's and Morton's are both for profit in the same industry, but its safe to have higher expectations for one.

Yeah but the feature is - "walking" - which is not critical to gameplay.

99.999999% players run in BDO because it's faster and other than roleplaying - there is no point to walking 

In otherwords - this is one of the lowest priority items for them to fix.

However, it was high enough priority for them to break it? Even though there is nobody using it?

I see your point, and I play running most of the time. When it was the graphics glitch it really bugged me visually, but I was shocked at the fix being to just remove it. Then act like EA about it. Saying its fixed, working as intended, and we added a new feature. 

I thought my MMO provider was a little more stand up and took a bit more pride than that. So, again, thats on me. 

Viper482

Renoaku said:

Viper482 said:

The game has very original and complex systems, it really is pretty deep. Problem is I was tired of having to be logged in and fishing every day, all day afk.

Generally all you have to do is spend $200 for a full inventory, get a Balenos Rod +10, put a branding stone for around $200, get fishing +5 easy to do, go afk for 16 hours a day 8 hours while you sleep 8 hours while you're at work, and put your PC In a low power state should use 300-400 watts, monitors should be off, come back later after work hop on and play.

But yeah it should have been designed better u should be able to afk fish without being online.

The cost to run a pc at 400 watts an hour for 30 days is around $30 USD a month in the U.S

....and it is still like a 2nd job. Rather not.

Renoaku

Viper482 said:

Renoaku said:

Viper482 said:

The game has very original and complex systems, it really is pretty deep. Problem is I was tired of having to be logged in and fishing every day, all day afk.

Generally all you have to do is spend $200 for a full inventory, get a Balenos Rod +10, put a branding stone for around $200, get fishing +5 easy to do, go afk for 16 hours a day 8 hours while you sleep 8 hours while you're at work, and put your PC In a low power state should use 300-400 watts, monitors should be off, come back later after work hop on and play.

But yeah it should have been designed better u should be able to afk fish without being online.

The cost to run a pc at 400 watts an hour for 30 days is around $30 USD a month in the U.S

....and it is still like a 2nd job. Rather not.

Not really you can do it from level 1 in game if you pay 2 win all the way.

KnightFalz

DMKano said:

solochoowookie said:

The rant is not over walk, the rant is over removal of a feature they broke, still have the mapping in the game, and then telling me it is 'working as intended'. I have logged tickets, been on the boards, sent messages etc. 

For weeks it was a crazy graphics glitch but the walk button still worked. Instead of fixing it they just removed it. That is shitty work. They posted in the patch notes it was 'fixed', but it was not, they just took it out of the game. 

I understand they are in business for profit. Of course, but they are supposed to be user centric in the design. Fuck, Denny's and Morton's are both for profit in the same industry, but its safe to have higher expectations for one.

Yeah but the feature is - "walking" - which is not critical to gameplay.

99.999999% players run in BDO because it's faster and other than roleplaying - there is no point to walking 

In otherwords - this is one of the lowest priority items for them to fix.

Some care about more than just what is gameplay critical.

He did mention that presentation was a big reason he begin to play BDO in the first place. Being able to walk could well be part of that, if he likes the associated animation. It would be a bother for roleplaying as you mention, and for that reason alone the change would have greatly annoyed me if I had bought into the game.

I'm glad I didn't bother with it now.

Darksworm

Renoaku said:

Darksworm said:

Performance is extremely spikey on my PC.  I wonder what kind of hardware one would need to run this thing comfortably at 60 FPS at 4K resolution...  Lol.

core i7-6700 or higher
GTX 1080ti if running hi-rez graphics card recommended
32GB DDR4-3600 or higher
SSD  for primary boot drive
Hard Drive for gaming Western Digital 7200 or higher 1TB+

Best ones would be the Asus ROG motherboard series and Video Card.

Then the game will run at around 70-100 FPS max. in maximum resolution heck you can fight in PVP 60+ players with all effects on only about 15 seconds of lag when all the fighting starts to load everything then smooth throughout the game as long as you have the ram to cache the graphics.

Obviously if you want higher go with a ASUS ROG build and a Socket 2066 CPU Core i9 line and Dual SLI on a motherboard that has 32  pcie lanes something games forget and I see people using Dual 1080ti's on a Socket 1151 motherboard what a waste.

And a fast internet connection 2mbit + Upload  100mbit + Download.

Yea, I'm not even interested in an MMORPG with such high system requirements.

I can't get anyone I know to play that with me, and I care more about my friends who are willing to game with me, than random internet nobodies.

yucklawyers

It has one, just ONE special feature, and that's the open world. It is beautiful.

But it's run by a an awful company with no respect for it's players and is a very shallow world made to seem deeper by ultra-clickiness and over-use of randomization to simulate content. If you take a step back, discard the PVE facebook type games (because they are not competitive in any way, just time wasters) and view it as a grinder.... you realize not only is it just another far East grinder, it's a pretty empty one with little content.

That explains the huge churn of players as well. It still attracts vast numbers of new players, but the huge majority don't stay long.

It's a shame. Missed opportunity.

peanutabc

my favourite thing about BDO was disputing the paypal payments because of their fraud

Pelagato

I really like how BDO looks, both characters and the friggin gameworld... 

But the effing grind is beyond any reasonable level...

PvE... Boring Grindfest without much of a challenge or any substance at all, just beat the crap out of mobs for hours without end, in my dark knight I just use 3 skills and wait for the cooldown. maybe 4 abilities...

PvP... I am not really a PvPer so a friggin clustercrap, feels like that, not like something epic.

Life Skills... You mean AFK activities or half AFK activities... ALT+Tab while you do something else ... lol!

What else can I do in this game????

It is kinda sad but I do like the toons and environments, but in the end, the game feels kinda empty.