Black Desert Online - Mini closed beta review

Originally Posted by DArtagnan
I was stupid enough to pre-order this and I tried it briefly.

Literally, truly, I was disgusted.

Ah so you did. Ignore my other post. So what is your take on it? why were you disgusted, the game or the cash shop?

Originally Posted by lostforever
Ah so you did. Ignore my other post. So what is your take on it? why were you disgusted, the game or the cash shop?

Well, let's see:

Gender-locked classes
No male ranged DPS and no "thief" like class
Absurd lack of consistency between quest text and voice acting
Worst story presentation in recent memory
Incredibly grating "black spirit quest guide" inspiring very violent feelings
Excessive pop-ins on highest settings
Ultra busy UI bombarding new players with opaque information
Press "T" to autowalk to destination - really?

I could go on.

That said, I concede that the game MIGHT have a lot of good things about it - if you can get past all that. I never got that far, though.

Originally Posted by DArtagnan
Well, let's see:
Gender-locked classes

I don't know why Korean games do this but it was a minor announce to me even though I like to play male character.

No male ranged DPS and no "thief" like class

Isn't wizard male ranged DPS? Or you mean no male Ranger class?

Absurd lack of consistency between quest text and voice acting
Worst story presentation in recent memory
Incredibly grating "black spirit quest guide" inspiring very violent feelings

Yes I agree but it was a minor point for me since I mostly read quest text and skip the voice acting etc. IU put it down to localization done on cheap!

Excessive pop-ins on highest settings

I was playing on GTX970 with max setting. I did have pop-ins but it wasn't excessive.

Ultra busy UI bombarding new players with opaque information

UI needs work and lot of information about all those different systems were presented on the get go which I found bit overwhelming but if you stay with it for a while things do make sense!

Press "T" to autowalk to destination - really?

You don't have to use it and given that there is no fast travel in this game, I see why they did it and how I might use it.

That said, I concede that the game MIGHT have a lot of good things about it - if you can get past all that. I never got that far, though.

I think the game does have lot of new and interesting systems going for which we don't normally get in WoW like MMOs I have played. This is what has got me interested in this game despite all me agreeing with the points you raised above.

I love the combat and the seamless open for exploration so for now I am treating it like Skyrim! I am in for $30 so even if I get 100 hours of fun out of it, I will be happy

Isn't wizard male ranged DPS? Or you mean no male Ranger class?

True, I should have said physical ranged DPS. I don't enjoy magic users

It doesn't have to be an archer as such, though I tend to prefer a bow. But I'd be fine with guns or crossbows, or whatever.

I always play a Thief/Assassin or some kind of ranged DPS in these games. It's just my preferred playstyle.

I was playing on GTX970 with max setting. I did have pop-ins but it wasn't excessive.

Truly, it's one of the worst cases of this I've ever seen.

Maybe I'm not good at ignoring it, though

I love the combat and the seamless open for exploration so for now I am treating it like Skyrim! I am in for $30 so even if I get 100 hours of fun out of it, I will be happy

That sounds good.

Tell me, does it have a lot of dungeons like Skyrim? Do you find unique journals and notes lying around.

Please tell me that "exploration" is not about finding yet another forest or hill?

Originally Posted by DArtagnan
Tell me, does it have a lot of dungeons like Skyrim? Do you find unique journals and notes lying around.

Please tell me that "exploration" is not about finding yet another forest or hill?

There are no instance dungeons like other MMOs and everything is open world. There are lots of caves, old ruins and stuff to explore like Skyrim. Some of them are huge.

Also exploration is not looking for pretty sight but there are plenty of those around. You can stumble into cave and it might have min story as to what's going on. I have not seen journals and stuff but you can sort of figure out the story by looking around. They have left lot clues around to see what's going on. Sometime you will get NPC in there who will tell you stuff or even give you quest.

Also look into the game's "knowledge" system. This pretty much forces you to go out explore. http://black-desert.com/guides/knowledge/

Originally Posted by lostforever
There are no instance dungeons like other MMOs and everything is open world. There are lots of caves, old ruins and stuff to explore like Skyrim. Some of them are huge.

Also exploration is not looking for pretty sight but there are plenty of those around. You can stumble into cave and it might have min story as to what's going on. I have not seen journals and stuff but you can sort of figure out the story by looking around. They have left lot clues around to see what's going on. Sometime you will get NPC in there who will tell you stuff or even give you quest.

Also look into the game's "knowledge" system. This pretty much forces you to go out explore. http://black-desert.com/guides/knowledge/

Hmmm….

Hmmm….

Well, I paid for it - so I'll give it another shot upon release.

But, truly, it screams NOT FOR DART

However, I've been wrong before.

Originally Posted by DArtagnan
Hmmm….

Hmmm….

Well, I paid for it - so I'll give it another shot upon release.

But, truly, it screams NOT FOR DART

However, I've been wrong before.

Well I only played about 40 hours in the last closed beta and most of that spent learning about the classes so I only did explore the areas around where you start. Now game companies have know to pre load content around the starting area so take what I say with a grain of salt!

Oh, you will find these 2 links interesting as well
http://black-desert.com/articles/exp…-desert-world/
https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/201…nline-preview/

Anyway I thought you will genuinely lap this game up since you used to complain about the WoW gear treadmill and all that stuff

Originally Posted by lostforever
Well I only played about 40 hours in the last closed beta and most of that spent learning about the classes so I only did explore the areas around where you start. Now game companies have know to pre load content around the starting area so take what I say with a grain of salt!

Oh, you will find these 2 links interesting as well
http://black-desert.com/articles/exp…-desert-world/
https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/201…nline-preview/

Anyway I thought you will genuinely lap this game up since you used to complain about the WoW gear treadmill and all that stuff

I'll enjoy this if you promise to enjoy ESO

I hear the Korean version has a Ninja. Maybe that's what I need to enjoy this one.

Originally Posted by DArtagnan
I'll enjoy this if you promise to enjoy ESO

I hear the Korean version has a Ninja. Maybe that's what I need to enjoy this one.

Well you will be surprised! Over the Christmas period, my brother got PS4 and ESO. I bought it on PS4 as well and we are playing it together and I am enjoying it now since we are both on voice reminiscing about what we like with the single player elder scrolls games! Sometimes the company makes all the difference!

Originally Posted by lostforever
Well you will be surprised! Over the Christmas period, my brother got PS4 and ESO. I bought it on PS4 as well and we are playing it together and I am enjoying it now since we are both on voice reminiscing about what we like with the single player elder scrolls games! Sometimes the company makes all the difference!

Now now, miracles CAN happen.

Glad you're enjoying it

I'm going to be playing starting tomorrow. I played in CBT2 and had a blast(!!).

Dartagnan's list is a valid list of minuses, and they do cause me to pause. However, there are a lot of pluses with which I am intrigued. Such as:

Fun action combat
Seamless, open world
Emphasis on sandbox mechanics
Gorgeous graphics, weather, day/night cycle
No fast travel portals, etc.

I like that I can do all the gathering and crafting professions
I like that I can have a house (many houses) on the first day
I like that I can build a boat and fish
I'm interested in the knowledge and amity/conversation game mechanics.

Will it be the fantasy version if Eve Online? I doubt it, but it might be closer than other games. With the fixed market rates, I'm not sure how viable playing the market will be. I don't know how epic the GvG warfare will be, as compared to Eve.

I'm worried about how restrictive the Energy mechanic feels. I can rationalize that it mimics our everyday energy levels; IRL we can't do everything in one day. I think it is also a mechanic to make bottting harder, not sure. If I run out of Energy, I'll switch to a different character.

My favorite MMO of all time is Everquest. Though you can do quests these days, in the early days, we would grind mobs. A big part of BDO is grinding mobs after reaching peak level at 55, and it looks way better than EQ graphics. Both games give more EXP for killing mobs, as opposed to quests.

I look forward to the huge desert area they will be adding, plus two other regions. They will also be adding other classes soon.

I'm going to be on Orwen. If you are part of a good guild on that server let me know. It would be good to play with a fellow RPGWatch member.

No thief/rogue class? Really??? I despise mage classes, so on that basis alone I guess I'll avoid this game. Back to Everquest Two for me.

At the risk of sounding like a fanboy (I know, too late):
There is a male Ninja class. http://steparu.com/previews/mmorpg/1…playable-class

Like I said, there are other classes that aren't in our NA/EU release, but are available in KR, RU, and JP. We've been told that they will come soon. I would guess they want to wait and make some news over it later, after this initial release.

This is a good primer for Black Desert Online.

Hmmm.

On one hand, the lack of focus in the game is appealing to me. I hate how the genre has devolved into such a state of hand-holding. But, on the other hand, it gives me the vibe that the game will just turn into farming the same area over and over again for different materials for anyone not interested in the PVP aspect. Yes, I know that sounds silly to say considering it's what PvE is more often than not as well I've grown annoyed with the trite grind formula and its various disguises.

What's the release date? All I can find is info on the beta.

Originally Posted by Drithius
Hmmm.

On one hand, the lack of focus in the game is appealing to me. I hate how the genre has devolved into such a state of hand-holding. But, on the other hand, it gives me the vibe that the game will just turn into farming the same area over and over again for different materials for anyone not interested in the PVP aspect. Yes, I know that sounds silly to say considering it's what PvE is more often than not as well I've grown annoyed with the trite grind formula and its various disguises.

What's the release date? All I can find is info on the beta.

Official release date is 03 March but head start is already live as of few hours ago.

Sigh i have to eat my words. This game is a grind. Post lvl 22-23 that is. You need ot grind 3 levels because the next area is lvl 26. Apparently they chose to use the Russian levelling system in stead of the Korean one which takes only 4 hours to get to lvl 50. SO dont buy this game.

Originally Posted by Damian
Sigh i have to eat my words. This game is a grind. Post lvl 22-23 that is. You need ot grind 3 levels because the next area is lvl 26. Apparently they chose to use the Russian levelling system in stead of the Korean one which takes only 4 hours to get to lvl 50. SO dont buy this game.

Are you complaining that you can't get to level 50 in 4 hours in MMO?

There are people on the NA/EU servers who got 50 in 15 hours so make what you will of that.

Anyway I think this is an amazing MMO. Gone are the days of WoW style quest hubs and stuff…

Why would you want to rush to 50 anyway? I've been playing for hours on hours and I'm still lvl17. I'm really enjoying running around just doing what the heck I want without feeling the need to rush to max level and do endgame content. I'm so glad there are no dungeons/raids that you need to get done the first week or forever be branded a noob that nobody wants in their raid groups.

I am absolutely stunned by this game so far. It's EVE dressed in medieval and there is just so much to learn and enjoy on the ride.

Originally Posted by NyxVampiria
Why would you want to rush to 50 anyway? I've been playing for hours on hours and I'm still lvl17. I'm really enjoying running around just doing what the heck I want without feeling the need to rush to max level and do endgame content. I'm so glad there are no dungeons/raids that you need to get done the first week or forever be branded a noob that nobody wants in their raid groups.

I am absolutely stunned by this game so far. It's EVE dressed in medieval and there is just so much to learn and enjoy on the ride.

Nicely put! Despite being billed as PvP game I think this is the best casual friendly PvE game out there right now! There is no hand holding and there is lot of stuff learn and discover. I am in my mid 30s and I have clocked in well over 100+ hours now just messing about in the game! As you say there is no pressure to get to max level (the soft cap is 55 but there is no hard cap for the game), since this isn't get to max level and then do the gear tread mill MMO.

One thing to note is that quests in this game does not give you combat experience at all so you can simply ignore them and go and do your own stuff. I just log in for an hour and wonder about and kill random stuff since they looked at me in funny way! Its actually very liberating not to follow quest hubs after quest hubs. However quest do give "other" type of experience and rewards so its still worth doing them but not to increase your character level.

The game is not without its faults but I think this is the most interesting MMO to come out in the last 6/8 years.