The combat is one of the few good things in this game. BDO has one of the best combat systems on the market. This is because a lot of thought has went into it. Its obvious and you can feel it. Your character has multiple combos, that require certain keys in conjunction with your mouse to do. After countless hours of grinding, my fingers never felt uncomfortable and each combo was easy to perform and flowed seamlessly into the next. The execution of Black Deserts combat is well-done, but I feel like it has a lot of untapped potential. The combat isn't as fun as Blade & Soul but its damn near close. My only complaint is that the targeting is sometimes difficult.
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Black Desert Online Review
monochrome19
Member UncommonPosts: 723
I finally made it to a point where I can give an acceptable review. My opinion has changed greatly since I posted 10 Early Impressions, but that's to be expected. Before we begin, however, I encourage you to read this comment by DMKano that was posted in another thread. It is very relevant, because Black Desert Online truly is a single player PvE game ... sadly, I'm only half-kidding. Lets get into it ...
There are no dungeons, raids, or hardcore PvE whatsoever. If grinding mobs isn't enough for you, I'm sure you wont like this game.
2. Combat
The huge selling point of BDO is PvP. The only problem is: PvP doesn't start until level 45. This is a sin I hope no game ever repeats. You do not delay your biggest selling point until the end of the game. Sure, you can duel people in arenas pre-45 but no one ever uses them. So once you hit 45 you are able to engage in PvP with classes you know nothing about and have no experience handling. At this point, everyone will have a good understanding of their class, so trying to PvP is suicide. You might understand your class, but you have no idea that Warrior can rush you, lock you down, and maul you to death before you can react.
However, the biggest problem with BDOs combat is gear. I tolerated grinding 45 levels because I expected PvP to be more balanced because of it. PvP is the exact opposite of balanced. Gear is the only deciding factor in PvP. A person with better gear will oneshot you and there's nothing you can do about it. This is unacceptable. You cannot have fair PvP when all that matters is gear. This is WoW all over again, but 100x worse.
Crafting is alright. Some will love it, some will hate it. I am not a crafter, but I leveled my cooking enough to be around the top #20 in rankings. I did this for one reason: to make food that gives me PvP stats. Outside of that, I had no reason to craft. It is completely possible to play BDO without ever touching crafting and do fine. You will never be desperate for silver and you wont miss it. The crafting is complex but has no depth, well-done but not exceptional. It follows the same formula of every MMO, but with more steps. Horse breeding is probably the best and most unique of them all. My other problem with the crafting is how it encourages AFK-play, things like fishing aren't too interactive, so people like to do it and leave the game running while they do other things. I'm puzzled by this, I realize a lot of people love this and think its great, but every time someone mentions this I cant help thinking: isn't the point of a game to play it? Not go AFK.
Basically, crafting is a hit or a miss depending on the person. You will either love it or deem it completely useless. If you enjoy crafting, have fun. If not, don't worry about it.
BDO has one of the worst economies I have ever seen. Most of the problems I have with this game stem from this. I would enjoy crafting and every other aspect 100% more if the economy and marketplace wasn't structured the way it is. For anyone who doesn't know, all trading in this game is done through the marketplace. You cannot trade another player, except for food and potions. This makes the game 1000x worse. Having all trade go through the marketplace makes for some truly awful experiences. Because all trade goes through the marketplace it is supposed to be able to adequately determine supply and demand and adjust prices accordingly. It does not and cannot do this.
Chicken Meat and Milk are great examples of how bad the economy is. Chicken meat is acquired by your workers from nodes and is used in cooking. At the moment, there is so much Chicken Meat in the marketplace that you would be better off selling it to an NPC. This is true for a lot of things acquired by workers. The problem with passively acquiring matts is that there will be a huge surplus. Milk on the other hand, can only be acquired by the player for 5 energy and from daily cows and a few other places. If you fail the minigame to get it, you lose 5 energy. The game is currently bugged so there is never any in the marketplace. If you post milk it will be bought IMMEDIATELY, unless you are camping out in front of the market you will never get any milk. Despite this, milk can only be sold for around 300-1k silver. The demand is so high for milk that the price cannot be adjusted by the marketplace algorithm. This is because it is always bought the second its there. If player trading was enabled I would be selling milk for 10-50k.
Having set prices and no player trading is really hindering this game and I hope that it is removed.
1. PvE
The PvE is lackluster, unimaginative, and boring. You will spend 99% of your time grinding mobs in this game. With that in mind, you'd think this experience would be made to be fun, interesting, unique, something ... but its not. The mobs have good designs and a lot of personality, but its wasted because every single one of them is useless grind fodder that requires no thought to combat. The leveling could have been more fun and interactive if each mob had different ways of fighting, different mechanics, different win conditions. They could slowly teach you new things about combat, but instead you just line them up and mow them down. Even at "endgame" its possible for one person to solo the strongest monsters in the game. The PvE is not enjoyable at all. It might be fun in the beginning, when everything is new and shiny, but you'll eventually get burned out from its repetitiveness.There are no dungeons, raids, or hardcore PvE whatsoever. If grinding mobs isn't enough for you, I'm sure you wont like this game.
2. Combat
3. PvP
The huge selling point of BDO is PvP. The only problem is: PvP doesn't start until level 45. This is a sin I hope no game ever repeats. You do not delay your biggest selling point until the end of the game. Sure, you can duel people in arenas pre-45 but no one ever uses them. So once you hit 45 you are able to engage in PvP with classes you know nothing about and have no experience handling. At this point, everyone will have a good understanding of their class, so trying to PvP is suicide. You might understand your class, but you have no idea that Warrior can rush you, lock you down, and maul you to death before you can react.
However, the biggest problem with BDOs combat is gear. I tolerated grinding 45 levels because I expected PvP to be more balanced because of it. PvP is the exact opposite of balanced. Gear is the only deciding factor in PvP. A person with better gear will oneshot you and there's nothing you can do about it. This is unacceptable. You cannot have fair PvP when all that matters is gear. This is WoW all over again, but 100x worse.
4. Crafting & Professions
Crafting is alright. Some will love it, some will hate it. I am not a crafter, but I leveled my cooking enough to be around the top #20 in rankings. I did this for one reason: to make food that gives me PvP stats. Outside of that, I had no reason to craft. It is completely possible to play BDO without ever touching crafting and do fine. You will never be desperate for silver and you wont miss it. The crafting is complex but has no depth, well-done but not exceptional. It follows the same formula of every MMO, but with more steps. Horse breeding is probably the best and most unique of them all. My other problem with the crafting is how it encourages AFK-play, things like fishing aren't too interactive, so people like to do it and leave the game running while they do other things. I'm puzzled by this, I realize a lot of people love this and think its great, but every time someone mentions this I cant help thinking: isn't the point of a game to play it? Not go AFK.
Basically, crafting is a hit or a miss depending on the person. You will either love it or deem it completely useless. If you enjoy crafting, have fun. If not, don't worry about it.
5. Economy
BDO has one of the worst economies I have ever seen. Most of the problems I have with this game stem from this. I would enjoy crafting and every other aspect 100% more if the economy and marketplace wasn't structured the way it is. For anyone who doesn't know, all trading in this game is done through the marketplace. You cannot trade another player, except for food and potions. This makes the game 1000x worse. Having all trade go through the marketplace makes for some truly awful experiences. Because all trade goes through the marketplace it is supposed to be able to adequately determine supply and demand and adjust prices accordingly. It does not and cannot do this.
Chicken Meat and Milk are great examples of how bad the economy is. Chicken meat is acquired by your workers from nodes and is used in cooking. At the moment, there is so much Chicken Meat in the marketplace that you would be better off selling it to an NPC. This is true for a lot of things acquired by workers. The problem with passively acquiring matts is that there will be a huge surplus. Milk on the other hand, can only be acquired by the player for 5 energy and from daily cows and a few other places. If you fail the minigame to get it, you lose 5 energy. The game is currently bugged so there is never any in the marketplace. If you post milk it will be bought IMMEDIATELY, unless you are camping out in front of the market you will never get any milk. Despite this, milk can only be sold for around 300-1k silver. The demand is so high for milk that the price cannot be adjusted by the marketplace algorithm. This is because it is always bought the second its there. If player trading was enabled I would be selling milk for 10-50k.
Having set prices and no player trading is really hindering this game and I hope that it is removed.
Comments
6. Graphics & The World
The biggest star of BDO is the world. Its so beautiful and elaborate you cant help falling in love with it. I've never tried RP but this game makes me want to RP. The night time darkness is unlike anything I have ever seen and its magical. I guarantee you will never find another game with a better world than BDO, its that good. It feels alive and vibrant and not some static backdrop that's easily forgettable. The world is a character that you experience and its enthralling. Have fun adventuring, because I sure did.
7. UI
Like most MMOs, the UI is pretty terrible. It wont stop you from playing but its annoying nonetheless. It just makes for an awful user experience. You can tell no thought went into whatsoever. For example, the default chat color is orange. However, the road and many other things in the game are the same color so trying to read chat is difficult. There are many other little things like this. They aren't too bad alone, but they all pile up until you realize the UI is a mess. Which is upsetting, because you interact with it every time you play. You cant fault BDO for this because most MMOs are like this. MMO companies should invest in UI/UX designers to streamline the user experience, to make these things as enjoyable as possible. As it stands, BDOs user experience is rather abysmal, but not so much as to hurt the gameplay.
8. Community
People seem to believe games with a price tag keep out the undesirables. But the community this game seems to attract is just as bad as LoL. They are toxic, elitist, trolls. If you say anything remotely critical of the game, you will be assaulted with comments like, "The grind isn't so bad faggot, suck it up." or the classic, "Hitler did nothing wrong," and my favorite, anything that has to do with Trump. Its a complete fuckfest. All I can say is mute the trolls. You will eventually find a dedicated group of nice people, but a lot of people that play this are just cunts.
9. Information
BDO is a very complex game with a lot systems and things to do. Learning all of it is daunting, and even for a vet, it may take some time. Teaching the player about all of BDOs systems is handled terribly in this game. Basically, if you want to know something click the little question mark in a window and it'll give you an overview of whatever its related to. You absolutely have to do outside research for this game because nothing is explained well. If you go into this game with no research or expecting it to give you a proper introduction, you will be very lost.
10. Conclusion
This is not a game that I can easily say, "You need to get this now!" or "This game is terrible." You will either love this game to death or dislike it, but you probably wont be able to tell without playing it and doing research. If you decide to give it a shot, don't be one of those petty people that immediately dismiss it for minor problems, just for the sake of hating it. You'll be doing yourself a disservice. This game is best experienced slowly and nicely like fine wine. Enjoy it if you can, but don't actively try to hate it. I'll give BDO a solid ...
3.5 / 5
In reality games are what you make them as long as the systems are there to support it. In BDO if you want to group, find a guild, and join groups. I've grouped a ton in this game, in fact the game encourages it, as you get better exp in groups.
The market is personal preference many games do their pricing system the way BDO does, it works, and it stops 3rd party cash shops from scamming folks by using charge backs to sell customers temporary items.
All MMOs are a grind in one way or another, you're either grinding mobs or quests, or dungeons, and raids. You decide on what game you want to play based on your preference, some people want a mob grinder, this game is for those people.
Same with end game pvp, some people want that. There are those that would say the ability to get ganked at low levels, or while being a brand new player would be toxic. You can't have it both ways.
The crafting is much better than many others I've played.
Conclusion, just try the game for yourself if you're interested, if you like it, buy it. If you don't like it, don't worry you can go back to what you played before. There are many people giving out 7 day passes still.
One month after release they had to add channels to each of the three servers and increased capacity on each of the 36 channels to accommodate for its popularity. To date, each of the channels are still crowded, the population doesn't appear to have tailed off at all, and a vast majority of people are enjoying the game.
That's the only review that counts.
The proof is in the pudding.
Well done.
Pros
- nice open world. No loading screens, no zoning, go anywhere. And to me, it's beautiful.
- no teleporting (so far). You have to run/ride everywhere, making the world even nicer
- only played Wizard so far, but I love the combat. It reminds me of an ice blaster in CoH. Lots of quick animations and gratifying fireworks and death animations. Lots of stuns, slows, etc too. AOE is a blast.
- crafting/production is interesting, kind of a blend of an RTS game and an MMO. You have to manage active workers.
- extra minigames, like fishing and diplomacy
Cons
- player interaction is rarely needed, and not encouraged. It's pretty much a solo game, but you could team up and have a blast with friends. Just not required.
- no trading player interaction either. There is no player-driven market. You cannot interact with another player when buying or selling. You MUST buy and sell from NPC's and you MUST pay the same rates as everyone else.
- standard kill X of these, and Y of those quests. Standard mob grinding. Standard gold spammers. Poor map.
Conclusion
A pretty fun game, if you want a mainly solo experience and don't mind grinding. Don't expect to become an expert in making armor and then make it for your friends. Don't expect a lot of hand-holding, or a deep story line.
3.5/5 -- Worth playing, but lacking some things.
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2024: 47 years on the Net.
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Further more, you grossly overestimate the amount of people who seek out actual players to buy via trading. In many MMOs where this is allowed transactions are still done by the vast majority through the crafting house.
Something that is cool about BDO is how each city has its own economy. Its not shared auction houses, which means independent economies. When I am fishing in Heidal, and I run all the way to Calpheon with Heidalian Fish, they are worth more on the Calpheon auction house.
In that sense, even if you are not a crafter, but just an action player, an explorer or what not, BDO has the potential to be rewarding.
Something else you didn't touch on is that there is plenty of money to be made on the auction house. One of my guildies made several millions of gear that he transfused together. If you take two Yuria earrings and transfuse them together they have a low chance of producing a better version. If you manage to get steel Tartarias armor and enhance it with Blackstones, when you put it on the auction house, it is worth a lot more.
So I don't buy THAT aspect at all.
If I am going to be critical of the economy I'll say that I think what is missing is things like Pets and Dyes. I think its a shame that they are not tradeable. The pets are really well animated and impressive and I think that I would have a lot of fun farming and breeding pets. The idea that you can cross unique pet species over is a really cool idea. We can do it with horses, and that is great, but I would have liked to get into pet breeding. That would have been excellent.
But its something Daum have put behind the cash shop, and I think thats a shame.
When it comes to player trading, I understand it. Gold sellers are annoying as hell, and they seem to harm every game under the sun. GW2 has been quite at curbing and mass banning them, but even there, it has been bad in periods.
I think some of the annoyances are leviated by the fact that the gear is not bound. And its not restricted by class. I was going to level to my ranger, so I took my gear of my main and just gave it to the ranger. Because the bank is shared (and CP) it really helps that process.
Also, I have a lot of wishes for the UI. There are a lot of things I want them to improve with the economy pane. I dont like I cant do other stuff while crafting. When I am cooking like 50 beers in a row, I cant open my map or manage my workers. Those kinds of QOLs would really be nice.
As far as crafting my guild has had AMAZING fun with the guild crafting and gathering missions. They are f**king awesome! ArenaNet needs to get in on this. And everyone else. It's so much fun. 40 minutes to collect 300 birch and ash wood. Its a completely different way of cooperating with the guild. And what was crazy was that we were all different parts of the world.
When we were done, the guild levelled up and I had 100 wood. And then I was like? What should I do with all this wood? And now I am working on my first small fishing boat. < This to me, is the sort of non-linear style of gameplay I have been missing for so many things. Where I am just doing things because "wow thats cool" and then I can do something with them.
And its not gated. Its not like I cant build a boat because I dont know that class. Its just that so many things you do in the game offers opportunities. It doesnt feel like punishment to explore.
So many MMORPGs punish you. they dont want you to go into higher levels zone, or visit towns and areas you've not breadcrumb quested yet. Things are gated along a chain, advancement is greyed out. Bleh.
Right now my worry in BDO is related to the PvP. As OP points out, the gear and levelling > skill is significant. That is not something I am used to. The PvP rewarding hardcore play is not something that can deter me for playing, because I am having way to much fun with the game, even as a PvE game. And btw- the arena outside Calpheon is an excellent area to practice and socialize. I had a lot of fun talking to randoms. You can free PvP without penalties or anything. Its fun to go into observer mode and sit on the edge and watch people fight.
But I might never get into the PvP of BDO. It is my own egotistical feelings that it would cater more to me as a casual player that there was equalized gear and levels, like the pvp components of Blade and Soul and GW2 and Warframe (the games I currently PvP in now), but on the other hand, there are not many PvP games like BDO that rewards gear and levelling dedication, and that part of me understands that there is a need for all sorts of different games with different design philosophies.
Im still going to do Arena fun pvp practice, and I will still jump into some GvG where I will get mauled, but BDO PvP is probably not something I am going to do a lot. Its not so much a carebear thing, as a thing about that I have way too much other stuff going on, and I dont want to get caught into a competitive scene where I need to compromise my RL just to be on even keel. I like BDO, but to me its entertainment and I will play as long as I enjoy it.
Why folks think BDO has the best combat, it's pretty much like DCUO except in a high fantasy setting.
If milk sells instantly, it's priced too low. Players can't adjust the prices though beyond the limits set by Daum. It's not just milk this happens to, either. On the other end of the spectrum, something may be priced too high. I read about a guy with a decently good horse, but the price on the AH is too high and nobody will ever buy it. It's perfectly usable but he has no way to sell it because of the limits set by Daum, so it's effectively worthless.
As for the no trading thing- I can agree it's not a big deal. I can count on one hand the times where trading with a player personally was important in my 15 years of playing MMOs. It is limiting, though, especially in a game claiming to be a sandbox.
These are valid points, imo.
1. Where is it documented that they have changed the way counts are displayed? Link it or it did not happen. Yes, we can assume that this may have taken place due to the fact they have increased the capacity of the servers, but that does not justify your assertion that the crowded prime time numbers on channels have a much lower threshold than what they had during launch week? Why would they add channels and increase their capacity only to lower their threshold? That makes no sense. If anything, the result should be the exact opposite.
2. How do you know the population has dropped off? Your mentioning of new channels having helped spread the player base out because the current level 50 spots that are camped can't support that many players does not serve as proof that the population has dropped off so I don't know why you would offer that as a rationale. Again, they added channels and increased capacity on each channel and all 36 channels show "crowded." That is pretty much where the game was at launch given they have added channels and increased channel capacity.
3. No one has said that they were gaining more players, although they very well may be and the fact they haven't added additional channels doesn't mean they won't be adding any more in the near future. Having all 36 channels across all 3 servers brimming at "crowded" capacity would certainly justify it.
Lastly, no one is misunderstanding you. You were wrong about the population dropping when you anxiously jumped the gun a couple of weeks ago and declared the population dropping, and you are still wrong today. We all have eyes, and many of us on this board are playing the game. The game is not only "far from dying," it's thriving!
That is what is obviously happening.
If you play this game just to experience PvP or crafting, you wont like it, this game really shines if played as a all, with short sessions of PvE, PvP, fishing, crafting, guild missions, party, explore, etc.
Maybe I am one kind of player that is diferent from the new generation, but since Everquest back in 1999 that I don't find such an interesting world as BDO.
1 PvE
I feel the end game PvE in this game is GLORIOUS. Easily the best PvE in a decade. So much diversity it's insane, so many small goals to work towards. I can play for 10 hours straight and still feel "just a little more". One month into the game and I'm still choosing BDO over sleep (I'm seriously addicted). However, for the PvE to feel varied you need to enjoy all aspects of it and not just combat.
3 PvP
I really like the small role PvP plays in the game. I also like that it's heavily gear based. If you want skill based PvP there are other games out there. The current system makes me truly feel more powerful as I play PvE. You have to remember that this is primarily a PvE game, the PvP is there mostly to be a yard stick for your PvE prowess. When I first hit 50 rangers would demolish my warrior, now at 51 most rangers that try to engage me can hardly scratch me. It's all gear and no skill. But it's proof that my time spent in PvE has paid off. And I love that system. If you want PvP to be about skill, this is NOT the game for you. Does not make it bad, though!
5 Economy
I find the BDO economy to be the best in any MMO released. And I hope other games take after it. In all other MMOs I've made all my money by manipulating the market. I play the market, get filthy rich and then all other activites are moot. A system with controlled prices and no p2p trading makes it so that playing the game is what gives you the most profit. The price to pay is that some goods won't be readily avaiable (like milk and rough stones).
8 Community
Again, on my server the community is really really good. People are helpful, I find myself chatting with stranger I meet out in the world and there is no profanity in world chat. As communities go in MMOs this is one of the best.
My conclusion
We obviously like our games different, and that's ok. For me Black Desert is a solid 5/5.
I remember I was invited to the CBT1, and maybe played about 3 hours and went meh. Then I was invited again to the second closed beta, really took the time to learn the game, and I was forever hooked after that. This isn't a game you can learn in an hour's playtime. It almost reminds me of Star Wars Galaxies when you get dropped into Tatooine with no clue what to do next.
This is the most I have played a game since EQ1 in 1999 and the only game since then I am literally afraid to die in. Some of use prefer grinding on mobs instead of easy mode quest hub themeparks like all the crap out there now.
Best thing about the game, is that it is a niche game, and not made to try to make everyone like it.. cough.. WoW.
The grind areas are over crowded so you end up in PvP more often than not which if you're not that good at PvP you may as well stop playing or go fish afk on the city docks.
Any review done by someone under level 50 is worthless since the real game starts at 50+
If you are interested in making a MMO maybe visit my page to get a free open source engine.
MAGA