March 3 Release Date - Questions

JDis25

Surprised there hasn't been an article on this site yet? Or has there?

Anyway the game comes out a month from now. Is anyone going to buy? Right now I am having a lot of fun with Blade and Soul, but at the same time, I love to play in a launch and don't want to get too far behind if the game ends up being actually good.

I have my fair share of skepticism about BDO though, most importantly:
how much tedious grinding is required?
lack of meaningful PvE?
lack of any endgame content other than GvG?

As for Sandbox features can anyone tell me if Crafting is actually meaningful and lucrative?
Is this game all about combat 24/7?
Is the cash shop too pricey or required to be competitive in PvP?

stayontarget

My advice would be to go to a few twitch streams to find the answers you seek,  because most of the people at this web site are trollish in nature.

Yes i did preorder after I did my homework on the game.

Azaron_Nightblade

It looked good enough for me to pre-order it as well. Of course, only time will tell whether this was a mistake or a good move. Still... B2P title... so even IF it winds up as one of those games I only play now and then, I still won't feel bad about having bought it.

Sovrath

JDis25 said:

Surprised there hasn't been an article on this site yet? Or has there?

Anyway the game comes out a month from now. Is anyone going to buy? Right now I am having a lot of fun with Blade and Soul, but at the same time, I love to play in a launch and don't want to get too far behind if the game ends up being actually good.

I have my fair share of skepticism about BDO though, most importantly:
how much tedious grinding is required?
lack of meaningful PvE?
lack of any endgame content other than GvG?

As for Sandbox features can anyone tell me if Crafting is actually meaningful and lucrative?
Is this game all about combat 24/7?
Is the cash shop too pricey or required to be competitive in PvP?

Yes they did:

http://www.mmorpg.com/newsroom.cfm/read/38133/Black-Desert-Online-Release-Coming-March-3-Second-CBT-Sign-Ups-Begin-Today.html#vanilla-comments

There is quite a bit of grind. If you don't like grind there are quests but they are typical mmo quests. I think that those who want more of a grind game might like it. Or those who don't mind "mmo quests".

What does meaningful pve "mean"? There are no raids as of yet if that's what you mean but there are dungeons being added in the future.

The only end game content I know about is pvp/sieges and perhaps crafting and making money, Running trade runs, etc.

I can't answer for the cash shop but it doesn't seem, at least at the moment, that it's needed for pvp. There are two types of shops, one for "cash" that doesn't have in game benefits and one that you can spend some sort of in game currency.

JDis25

Thanks I will probably buy it for the graphics, the character creator, the housing, and the crafting. Any fun PvP or PvE I get into I will look at as a bonus. It does enough different to warrant a buy, I am thinking.

cerulean2012

I admit the graphics looked good but I was not impressed with the game play and to me game play is more important then graphics so I will not be getting it.

Jacobin

how much tedious grinding is required?
The entire game is based on grinding out RNG gear upgrades

lack of meaningful PvE?
Just farming trash mobs and zerging tank and spank world bosses. The most efficient way to level is to straight grind and skip all quests.

lack of any endgame content other than GvG?
Grind gear upgrades for pvp

As for Sandbox features can anyone tell me if crafting is actually meaningful and lucrative?
Yes in that it allows you to get money and resources to drop into the RNG crafting casino. If you define 'sandbox' as being able to actually affect the world then no it is not.

Is the cash shop too pricey or required to be competitive in PvP?
For the launch phase no. The only barrier to competitive pvp is the RNG casino crafting and massive gear stat scaling. A month or 2 down the line it will very likely be P2W.


Its basically ArcheAge with instanced housing/farming and action combat but with less P2W at the start due to mandatory B2P.

Hanthos

Is the banking/auction system still local, or was it changed to global?

stayontarget

Hanthos said:

Is the banking/auction system still local, or was it changed to global?

Banking is local and will always be local. I think the auction house is global but don't quote me on that one.

Allein

Hanthos said:

Is the banking/auction system still local, or was it changed to global?

Most likely local banking and global market.

ChromeBallz

Jacobin said:

lack of meaningful PvE?
Just farming trash mobs and zerging tank and spank world bosses. The most efficient way to level is to straight grind and skip all quests.

The E stands for Environment, not monsters...

There's plenty to do besides PvP, it's just not about killing monsters, dungeons or raids. 

Sassy_Gay_Unicorn

Yeah I purchased the Conquerors pack. 

Hoping there will be an MMORPG guild at some point.

advokat666

how much tedious grinding is required? 

1-50 leveling is quick if you grind. In BDO most of the Level XP comes from killing mobs. 50+ The real grind starts, yes. With every level above 50 this will increase a bit.

lack of meaningful PvE?

The question is, what is "meaningful" to you ? There are no raids, there are no dungeons. There are world bosses, there is trading, there is crafting. If this is meaningful to you, you have to decide yourself

lack of any endgame content other than GvG?

GvG is a big part of endgame content, but again there is trading and crafting.

As for Sandbox features can anyone tell me if Crafting is actually meaningful and lucrative? 

I play on KR and do crafting exclusively. Is it meaningful and lucrative, well if you do it for income, yes you can make good money out of crafting. But it is a long way until you can craft expensive things if you want to do everything on your own / your own workers. You will have to quest a lot for the contribution points / energy. Which brings us to the other question, is crafting an effective way to make money, in my opinion no. If you grind mobs you will make more money in less time and effort. I personally hate to much grinding but i love the crafting / gathering system in BDO, so i do it for fun. I don´t care for PvP and i don´t care for the classic PvE content, i focus only on trading and crafting, not everybodys cup of tea but i enjoy it.

Megapixel

I love how ppl treat mmos like it some life changing event that needs lots of planning and research. It's a fckn video game ffs. It's a very small investment equivalent to 4 visits to Burger King. BDO looks cool and I like their decision to go B2P vs F2P. Spend $30, play til level cap, and leave afterwards if you like. I'd say you got your money's worth. You could always spend twice as much money on a console game and beat it the same day you bought it. So, stop worrying if it's gonna be the next AA or some other P2W fail and just relax, smoke a bowl, and enjoy the ride. The world will still be here tomorrow.

JDis25

Megapixel said:

I love how ppl treat mmos like it some life changing event that needs lots of planning and research. It's a fckn video game ffs. It's a very small investment equivalent to 4 visits to Burger King. BDO looks cool and I like their decision to go B2P vs F2P. Spend $30, play til level cap, and leave afterwards if you like. I'd say you got your money's worth. You could always spend twice as much money on a console game and beat it the same day you bought it. So, stop worrying if it's gonna be the next AA or some other P2W fail and just relax, smoke a bowl, and enjoy the ride. The world will still be here tomorrow.

While I agree with you, MMOs are an investment in time as well, not just money. Playing till it stops being fun is fine advice, but things can change in an instant once you find out certain features (or lack of) really turn you off from a game. To the point where you say "I would have been better off not buying into this, and playing it for 100 hours."

Did you enjoy the 100 hours... maybe. Would it have been better invested into a different game/hobby/school/work etc... just maybe. Developers can also abandon, or make otherwise terrible decisions as the game progresses, so that just adds another element of uncertainty. 

Pepeq

JDis25 said:

While I agree with you, MMOs are an investment in time as well, not just money. 

If you feel there is an investment of time... you're not having fun, plain and simple.  I can already tell you are a min/maxer because you play at launch purely because you fear that you will be left too far behind if you don't.  You don't play for fun, you play for advantage.

If you see video games as an investment, then treat them as such... a volatile market that can crash at any moment taking everything you have with it.  If that's your idea of fun, so be it.  I personally would rather not invest in a video game but rather have fun in one.

Allein

Megapixel said:

I love how ppl treat mmos like it some life changing event that needs lots of planning and research. It's a fckn video game ffs. It's a very small investment equivalent to 4 visits to Burger King. BDO looks cool and I like their decision to go B2P vs F2P. Spend $30, play til level cap, and leave afterwards if you like. I'd say you got your money's worth. You could always spend twice as much money on a console game and beat it the same day you bought it. So, stop worrying if it's gonna be the next AA or some other P2W fail and just relax, smoke a bowl, and enjoy the ride. The world will still be here tomorrow.

Pixels are serious!

holdenhamlet

Sassy_Gay_Unicorn said:

Yeah I purchased the Conquerors pack. 

Hoping there will be an MMORPG guild at some point.

That's a good idea.  Someone should start one.  

holdenhamlet

JDis25 said:

Megapixel said:

I love how ppl treat mmos like it some life changing event that needs lots of planning and research. It's a fckn video game ffs. It's a very small investment equivalent to 4 visits to Burger King. BDO looks cool and I like their decision to go B2P vs F2P. Spend $30, play til level cap, and leave afterwards if you like. I'd say you got your money's worth. You could always spend twice as much money on a console game and beat it the same day you bought it. So, stop worrying if it's gonna be the next AA or some other P2W fail and just relax, smoke a bowl, and enjoy the ride. The world will still be here tomorrow.

While I agree with you, MMOs are an investment in time as well, not just money. Playing till it stops being fun is fine advice, but things can change in an instant once you find out certain features (or lack of) really turn you off from a game. To the point where you say "I would have been better off not buying into this, and playing it for 100 hours."

Did you enjoy the 100 hours... maybe. Would it have been better invested into a different game/hobby/school/work etc... just maybe. Developers can also abandon, or make otherwise terrible decisions as the game progresses, so that just adds another element of uncertainty. 

Any MMO can change at any time.  Not playing an MMO because it might change is like never crossing the street because you might get hit by a car.

simsalabim77

Megapixel said:

I love how ppl treat mmos like it some life changing event that needs lots of planning and research. It's a fckn video game ffs. It's a very small investment equivalent to 4 visits to Burger King. BDO looks cool and I like their decision to go B2P vs F2P. Spend $30, play til level cap, and leave afterwards if you like. I'd say you got your money's worth. You could always spend twice as much money on a console game and beat it the same day you bought it. So, stop worrying if it's gonna be the next AA or some other P2W fail and just relax, smoke a bowl, and enjoy the ride. The world will still be here tomorrow.

Agreed. Well said, but you have to realize what website you're on. MMORPG's are serious, life altering things 'round these parts. 

YashaX

JDis25 said:

Thanks I will probably buy it for the graphics, the character creator, the housing, and the crafting. Any fun PvP or PvE I get into I will look at as a bonus. It does enough different to warrant a buy, I am thinking.

That's pretty much what I thought as well.

bcbully

JDis25 said:

Surprised there hasn't been an article on this site yet? Or has there?

Anyway the game comes out a month from now. Is anyone going to buy? Right now I am having a lot of fun with Blade and Soul, but at the same time, I love to play in a launch and don't want to get too far behind if the game ends up being actually good.

I have my fair share of skepticism about BDO though, most importantly:
how much tedious grinding is required?
lack of meaningful PvE?
lack of any endgame content other than GvG?

As for Sandbox features can anyone tell me if Crafting is actually meaningful and lucrative?
Is this game all about combat 24/7?
Is the cash shop too pricey or required to be competitive in PvP?

The crafting is amazing OP. I mean seriously it's aamazing. From boats to furniture, to carriages, to gear and more. It's easily the most engrossing crafting system I've seen.  The game is a crafters wet dream.

In BDO you can be a crafter and for go combat and have an experience as full as most mmorpgs have for a full game.

JDis25

Pepeq said:

JDis25 said:

While I agree with you, MMOs are an investment in time as well, not just money. 

If you feel there is an investment of time... you're not having fun, plain and simple.  I can already tell you are a min/maxer because you play at launch purely because you fear that you will be left too far behind if you don't.  You don't play for fun, you play for advantage.

If you see video games as an investment, then treat them as such... a volatile market that can crash at any moment taking everything you have with it.  If that's your idea of fun, so be it.  I personally would rather not invest in a video game but rather have fun in one.

I think that's a bit unfair labeling me as a min/maxer and saying I don't play for fun. Of course I play for fun, this isn't my job to play MMOs and I do it only because I have to....

First of all, MMOs are a timesink, this isn't news, they require patience. At some point in EVERY MMO I have asked myself "Should I continue?, this isn't much fun anymore." And many times I do continue, and you know what? The game ends up getting better at max level or with a future update etc. Vanilla Rift and World of Warcraft were both example of this for me. At times the game just appeared grindy and repetitive and it was in a way, but then you unlock more paths to take, more activities become possible, new features are added, etc.

If I had quit every game at the first instant it became less fun, I don't think I would ever finish a single game in my library.. including single-player games.  You also have to take into account your mood, your lifestyle, any outside factors that could make playing video games less fun at the present moment.

It's difficult to judge MMOs or RPGs by even the first 10 hours of gameplay and that's being generous, so to say that you don't invest time into a game is a false statement IMO.